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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29464047">Something There</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/onegalaxyaway/pseuds/onegalaxyaway'>onegalaxyaway</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drama, F/M, First Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, High School, Obsession, Romance, Secret Admirer, Slow Burn, Teen Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:29:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>46,468</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29464047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/onegalaxyaway/pseuds/onegalaxyaway</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>[A Kozume Kenma x Original Female Character Story]</p><p>Being a volleyball club manager in her junior high school has pushed Hirai Anka to volunteer herself to become the manager of Nekoma High School's volleyball team in hope of gaining new friends and being a part of something like she used to. It never crossed Anka's mind that she would also find love and that some people might not be who she thought they were.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kozume Kenma/Original Character(s), Kozume Kenma/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kozume Kenma sighed as he drags himself towards the direction of the gym. All he wanted to do was to go home and continue playing his video games, but that have to wait due to the daily volleyball practice the team has after school. Even though it has become a routine for him to practice volleyball with his team, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t spend his time complaining.</p><p>As he gets closer to the gym, he could hear the shouts and chattering of his teammates. His hand has just touched the handle of the gym’s door when he heard a voice shouted his name. “Kenma!” The two-toned colored hair teenager turned towards the source of the sound and stares silently at his bestfriend.</p><p>His bestfriend of almost ten years, Kuroo Tetsurou, slaps his shoulder to which earned a hiss from Kenma. Kuroo grins. “Oy, show some excitement. Coach said he has an exciting announcement to make,” Kuroo said. Kenma said nothing as he pushed the gym’s door open. He quietly walked to a bench where he put his bag down while Kuroo had started a conversation with the other teammates. Kenma pulled out his PSP and had only turned it on when the sound of the gym’s door opened distracted him.</p><p>“All right, Boys. Gather up!” Kenma puts his PSP back into his bag while he walked to where the rest of the team had gathered. It was only then that he realized there was an unfamiliar face conversing with Nekomata-sensei who’s standing slightly behind Coach Naoi. The presence of the unfamiliar face, who happened to be a girl, had caught the attention of all members of Nekoma volleyball team. Especially Yamamoto who has failed to hide his growing excitement.</p><p>“Before we start practice today, I have an announcement to make,” Coach Naoi said. “As of today, we have a new addition to the team who will fill the position of a manager. Please give her a warm welcome.” And as soon as the word ‘manager’ has escaped Coach Naoi’s mouth, a commotion has started between the boys.</p><p>
  <em>“A manager? A female manager?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Kami-sama, what a good day to be alive.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Finally! This is what I’ve been waiting for!”</em>
</p><p>Kenma stares silently at his teammates as the voices around him grow louder only to be interrupted by Coach Naoi. “Silence!”</p><p>The voices didn’t disappear instantly as there were still chattering here and there, and also a yelp from Yamamoto whose head has been slapped by Kuroo since he wouldn’t stop talking about showing off their female manager to the other teams. Coach Naoi turned slightly to the girl behind him. “Hirai-san, if you will.”</p><p>Coach Naoi stepped aside as a brunette girl stepped forward. The girl has blue eyes and long brunette hair and a bright smile on her face. Kenma noticed that the girl’s height only reached slightly above his shoulder.</p><p>“Hello! My name is Hirai Anka from Class 2-4. I’m here as the new female manager for Nekoma volleyball team. Pleased to make your acquintance,” The girl named Anka finished her introduction with a short bow without the bright smile ever leaving her face. “Okay. Now, all of you please introduce yourself one by one,” Coach Naoi instructed.</p><p>The first to introduced themselves are the third years started by Kuroo who shots the girl a friendly grin as he finished his introduction continued by Nobuyuki and Yaku who introduce themselves calmly. As soon as the third years finished their introduction, the second years’ introduction was started by Yamamoto who’s slightly trembling as he stares at Anka.</p><p>“H-hello. My name is Yamamoto Taketora and I’m the ace of the team. Pleased to make your acquintance,” He finished his introduction with a short brow. Seeing the usually loud and hot-headed boy becomes more timid in the presence of a girl makes the rest of the team rolled their eyes slightly. Nothing but a girl would tame Yamamoto. The said girl only shots him a friendly smile, which made Yamamoto’s breath hitched, before diverting her gaze towards the two-toned colored hair boy who’s standing slightly behind Yamamoto.</p><p>Kenma slightly stiffened when he felt Anka’s gaze on him. Their eyes meet for a second before he quickly grew uncomfortable and lowered his gaze. “Kenma. I’m Kozume Kenma. Setter of the team,” He introduces himself quietly. Kenma never enjoyed being the center of attention, he often tends to be silent and blend in with the crowd since he hates standing out or being noticed in any way. Feeling other people’s gaze on him made him feel pressured since he couldn’t help but think of what others might think of him.</p><p>“Nice to meet you, Kozume-san,” Kenma raised his gaze towards the girl just in time to see the friendly grin on her face. Their eyes meet once again. Anka gives him a slight nod before moving her gaze to the next teammate who’s introducing himself. Kenma lets out a relieved sigh as he slightly fiddles with his fingers. I wish I have my PSP with me right now.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anka fiddled with her fingers as her nervousness grow with each step she takes. She could feel her heartbeats going faster and louder. The teenage girl can’t help but wonder if the two coaches who are walking ahead of her could hear the sounds of her heartbeats. <em>Oh come on, Anka. It’s not your first time doing this,</em> Anka scolded herself. But still, even though it is her own choice that leads her to this situation, she can’t help but feel nervous and maybe <em>slightly</em> regretting her decision.</p>
<p>Having been the manager for her middle school’s volleyball team throughout her middle school years make her miss the feeling of being a part of a team. Even though Anka was not on the front lines and play alongside the team on the court, she was there during the long hours of practices and she watched the development of each member. She cried tears out of joy when the team won and she was there cheering them up when they lost. When she first arrived to Nekoma High, she was excited to hear that the school has their own volleyball team and that the manager position was vacant. The memories that she made during her years as a manager was what prompted her to apply for the manager position.</p>
<p>Coach Naoi was surprised and also excited when Anka expressed her interest of being a manager for the volleyball team. The manager position has been vacant for a few years and no one have ever applied for the position. Although they have managed without a manager, extra help would always be welcomed.</p>
<p>Anka was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of shouts and chattering coming from the gym. She could feel herself relax due to the familiarity of the situation. A small smile grew on her face when she remembered all the times she was welcomed by the shouts and chattering of her teammates as she entered the gym. <em>Yeah, it’ll be alright. </em></p>
<p>It doesn’t take long for Anka and the two coaches to reach the gym. Coach Naoi pushed the gym’s door open. “All right, Boys. Gather up!”</p>
<p>The members instantly stopped whatever they were doing to gather around their coaches. Anka could feel her heart beats faster as she could feel the gaze of the volleyball team’s members. “Hirai-san,” A voice calling her name pulled her out of her thoughts. “O-oh yes, Nekomata-sensei?”</p>
<p>Hearing the nervousness in the girl’s voice, Nekomata-sensei smiles warmly at her. “There’s no need to be nervous. The boys might be loud and could be a handful at times but they’re all nice kids. They would be happy to welcome you,” He said. Nekomata-sensei’s words manages to relax her slightly. Anka grins before responding. “Thank you, Sensei.”</p>
<p>“It’s actually me who wants to say thank you to you. We haven’t had manager in years and although we managed, an extra help will always be welcome. And I think having a female manager would also boost the team’s morale so thank you, Hirai-san,” Nekomata-sensei said. Anka bows slightly. “Thank you for giving me a chance, Sensei. I won’t disappoint you.”</p>
<p>“Hirai-san, if you will.” Anka jumps a little hearing Coach Naoi’s words. She doesn’t realize that he finished talking. She puts on a bright on her face before stepping forward. “Hello! My name is Hirai Anka from Class 2-4. I’m here as the new female manager for Nekoma volleyball team. Pleased to make your acquintance,” She finishes her introduction with a short bow. She takes a look at each member of the team. Three of them caught her eyes. The one with a messy bed hair who, if she’s not mistaken, is the captain of the volleyball team. Another one with a mohawk who’s staring at her with intrigue and slightly widened eyes. And the last one is the boy with a two-toned hair who’s standing slightly behind the mohawk.</p>
<p>Among the boys, the two-toned hair boy is the only one who’s standing quietly without talking and making a sound. <em>His hair reminds me of pudding,</em> Anka thought. <em>Great, now I’m hungry. </em></p>
<p>“Okay. Now, all of you please introduce yourself one by one,” Coach Naoi’s voice broke her reverie. The first to introduce themselves is the boy with messy bed hair. Anka was right, the boy is the captain of the volleyball team. As the introduction continues, Anka tries to remember the name of each member quickly. <em>Kuroo Tetsurou, Nobuyuki Kai, Morisuke Yaku... </em></p>
<p>After the third years finished introducing themselves, the mohawk boy is the first to introduce themselves. Anka is surprised to find out that despite his intimidating appearance, the boy is actually more timid than she thought he would be. He started off his introduction with a little stammer. “H-hello. My name is Yamamoto Taketora and I’m the ace of the team. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” He said. <em>So Yamamoto...</em> Anka shots him a smile. Yamamoto’s eyes widened slightly and she could hear his breath hitched before diverting her gaze towards the two-toned colored hair boy who’s standing slightly behind Yamamoto.</p>
<p>The boy slightly stiffened, their eyes meet each other for a second before he lowered his gaze. “Kenma. I’m Kozume Kenma. Setter of the team,” He introduces himself quietly. Anka could sense the boy feeling uncomfortable so she shots him a friendly grin, hoping that it would relax him slightly. “Nice to meet you, Kozume-san,” She said. Kozume raised his gaze and their eyes meet once again, Anka nods slightly at him before diverting her gaze to the next member to introduce themselves. <em>Kozume Kenma...</em></p>
<p>
  <em>***</em>
</p>
<p>After all members finished introducing themselves, Coach Naoi explained the training that they’re going to do marking the beginning of today’s practice which resulted in the boys’ disappointment. Especially Yamamoto. “But Coach, wouldn’t it be better for us to get to know our manager first? You know, to build teamwork and those kind of things,” He reasoned. “Yes, and you can do that <em>after</em> practice,” Coach Naoi said. The boys groan in disappointment, except for Kenma whose expression hasn’t changed at all and Kuroo, Yaku and Kai who pushed the other members towards the court.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Anka followed Nekomata-sensei and Coach Naoi towards the bench. “For today, I think it’ll be better for you to get to know the team better by seeing how they practice. It will help you to adjust to our team faster though I think with your past experience you will have no problem with that,” Coach Naoi said. Anka responded with a nod before taking her seat next to Nekomata-sensei. Coach Naoi gives her a paper with the members’ informations inside including their names, grade, jersey number and also positions on the team. Anka pulled out her notebook and pen, getting ready to write down her observation of the members’ skill during today’s practice.</p>
<p>For today, they’re doing 3 vs. 3 practice match. Anka writes down her observation of the members quickly so she would not miss what’s happening on court. The brunette is amazed by the members’ skills even though it is only practice. She could notice that Kuroo, whose position is middle blocker, has amazing techniques and is also skilled in reading the the opponent’s movement shown by how he quickly react when Yamamoto changed his shot in the last minute. Yamamoto, who’s the Ace of Nekoma, is great at spiking and from what she sees so far, cross spikes seems to be his speciality. The Libero, Yaku Morisoke, has amazing defensive prowess. And the setter, Kozume Kenma, what he lacks in physical power he makes up with his observant nature which allows him to see the tiniest details of his opponents and use it to his advantage. <em>If this is how they are in practice against their own team members, I can’t wait to see them in competitions</em>, Anka thought excitedly as she quickly writes down her observation.</p>
<p>So far, the only member that she could see lacking is Haiba Lev, who’s apparently a first-year and also an amateur in volleyball. Anka noticed how he continously fail to spike Kenma’s toss, leading to the latter being frustrated although his expression doesn’t really show it. But noticing how persistent the tall first-year is for Kenma to keeps tossing for him, Anka is sure that he would improve and would become an amazing player too. <em>It might takes some time, but he’ll get there.</em></p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kenma notices how the team is more excited due to the presence of a girl. He notices how Yamamoto would glance to Anka almost <em>every </em>time he spikes and brightens up whenever Anka shots him a smile. The other members, who see the interaction between Anka and Yamamoto, seems to put in more efforts towards their play to earn a reaction from the girl. Anka would never fail to react to each member, giving a thumbs up or a bright smile in respond to each member who looked at her after they do something. Kenma can’t help but feel slightly grateful because due to the team’s good mood, it’s easier for him to toss to the other member which leads to him not having to move around a lot. Except for Lev who has failed to receives his toss, <em>again</em>.</p>
<p>As Kenma looks around the room, he accidentally meets Anka’s gaze. He tensed up slightly and turn away quickly when the girl shots him a smile. <em>That’s embarrasing</em>, Kenma sighs.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The practice continues for a few hours before Coach Naoi signals the end of today’s practice with a blow of his whistle. Unlike their usual routine of going straight to the club room to change, the members excitedly approach Anka and sit around her. “Great job, Guys!” Anka said with a bright smile on her face. Kenma doesn’t really understand how she could still be cheerful even after spending a long time at school.</p>
<p>Yamamoto, who’s unlike earlier had relaxed in the presence of the girl, excitedly asks her questions. About her opinons on the team, on his play, and also her hometown. “Woah... So you were born in South Korea?”</p>
<p>Anka nods. “Yes, I was born in South Korea and I also grew up there so it actually hasn’t been long since I moved here,” She said. “That’s cool! That means you’re half-half like me! I’m half-Russian and half-Japanese!” Lev said excitedly. Anka brightens up. “Really? Oh my God, I’ve always wanted to go there!” She said. “Yes! But unfortunately, I’ve never went there before. I don’t even know how to speak Russian,” Lev said with a slight frown. Anka grins and ruffles the boy’s hair. “That doesn’t mean you will never go there. Who knows? Maybe you’ll live there someday.”</p>
<p>Lev’s face went red as Anka ruffles his hair and Kenma swears he could see flowers grew around Lev. Kenma turned on his feet before making his way to the club room. He can’t wait to go home and lay down on his comfortable bed. “Oi, Kenma,” Kenma turned his head to see Kuroo jogging to reach him. “Aren’t you interested in getting to know our manager? You know it’s our first time having a manager in years,” Kuroo said as he wraps his arm around the shorter boy’s shoulder. Kenma groaned as he shrug off his friend’s arm. “Not really,” He said. “But Kenma, you should at least talk to her. She <em>is </em>our manager now and we will probably interact a lot with her. Not to mention that she’s pretty,” Kuroo said as he wiggles his eyebrows.</p>
<p>Kenma makes a face at him. “I will talk to her, when I have to,” He said. Kenma feels slightly grateful when he sees the door to the club room in front of him. Kenma pushes the door open and he makes his way to his locker to pack up his stuff. As he packs his stuff, slowly the rest of the members enter the club room to pack before going home.</p>
<p>“Are you ready?” Kuroo asks as he stands in the doorway. Kenma wears his backpack before quietly going out of the club room. “See you tomorrow, Kenma-san, Kuroo-san!” Lev said excitedly.</p>
<p>As Kuroo and Kenma walks toward their school’s gate, they notice a familiar girl walking ahead of them. “Hirai-san!” Kuroo called. The girl turned his head and smiled at them before stopping on her tracks. “Kuroo-san, Kozume-san,” She said. Kuroo jogs towards her while Kenma continues his slow steps towards the pair. “Are you going home alone?” Kuroo asks. Anka nods. “Where is your home, if you don’t mind me asking? Our house could be on the same direction so you don’t have to go home alone!” Kuroo said.</p>
<p>Anka answers his question. “Oh, that’s on our way home! Why don’t we go home together?” Kuroo asked with a grin. Anka smiles brightly at him. “That would be wonderful!” She said, Anka went quiet for a second before she diverts her gaze towards the other boy. “If Kozume-san has no problem with that.” Kenma, who has taken out his PSP and started playing his game, looks up and blink a few times when he realizes the pair’s attention is now on him. “Kenma?” Kuroo says his name with a slight warning in his voice. “I don’t mind,” He said quietly before looking back down on his PSP. “Thank you!” Anka said. The three students finally make their way to the train station.</p>
<p>Along the way, Kuroo and Anka starts conversing with each other while Kenma listening quietly. He has put his PSP back into his bag since he doesn’t want to be seen as rude for playing games while the pair is talking, especially since he’s walking between the two. “So Hirai-san, what was it like to live in South Korea? Do you have any difficulties in adjusting living in Japan?” Kuroo asks. “It was fun. Fortunately, so far I haven’t found any significant difficulties. The food here is delicious and there are some similarities in the language so that helps a lot. Although, sometimes I still feel weird with the honorofics here. In South Korea, even when we’re not close to the person, we still call them using their first name. So I need to keep reminding myself to use their surname instead here since it could be seen as rude,” Anka said.</p>
<p>Kuroo grins. “Then you don’t need to worry because Kenma here,” The black haired boy ruffles Kenma’s hair resulting in protests from Kenma, “He doesn’t really care about the honorifics, so I don’t think he would mind with you calling him with his first name.” <em>It’s not really his decision to make</em>, He thought. Kenma would like to say that out loud but he’s worried if Anka would take it the wrong way so he keeps it in his head instead. “Oh, really?” Anka glances towards Kenma. <em>Kuroo you bastard</em>, Kenma hates how now he is the main focus of their conversation because of what Kuroo said. “Um... Yeah,” He said quietly. “We’re the same age after all,” He continues as he glances slightly towards the girl before diverting his gaze. He could see the girl grinning from the corner of his eyes. “Thank you, Kenma!”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The train ride takes 10 minutes. The three students are sitting together with Anka sitting in the middle. The train is quite packed since it’s also the time for workers to go home, Kenma has noticed how the girl glances around nervously and so he takes a seat at the edge leaving the middle empty. Anka shot him a grateful smile which he only responded with a nod. Kuroo and Anka has continued conversing while Kenma pulled out his PSP and started playing his games. He’s currently stuck on a level since he hasn’t managed to beat the monster. Although he has found the weakness of the monster, the quick movements of the monster make it hard for him to attack on its weakness spot.</p>
<p>“Woah... Is that <em>Monster Hunter</em> <em>3</em>?” The sudden voice makes him jumped on his seat. Kenma turned his head and his eyes widened slightly when he realized the close proximity between him and the girl. Anka, whose gaze were focusing on his PSP’s screen, raised her gaze and their eyes meet for a second. Anka’s eyes widened slightly and both teenagers just silently stare with each other. Golden eyes meet blue eyes. A few seconds pass as they stare at each other as if they are in a trance until the sound of Kenma’s character being killed brings them to reality. Anka blinks a few times before finally pulling away and facing forward. A light pink blush on her cheeks.</p>
<p>Kenma returns his focus to his PSP and through the corner of his eyes, he could see Kuroo grinning. <em>Damn it, Kuroo.. </em>He thought as he busies himself with restarting his level.</p>
<p>A few seconds pass with an awkward silence between them, with Anka still blushing a little and Kuroo’s grin never leaving his face, until Kuroo breaks the silence. “So Anka, do you play video games?” Kuroo asks as he turned his face to the girl. Anka blinks a few times before returning his gaze with a smile on her face. “Not really, I mean I do play but I don’t play it often. My little brother is the one who plays video games all the time while I play with him sometimes, that is if he allows me to,” She answers. Anka glances at Kenma, who has restarted his level, before returning her gaze to Kuroo. “My little brother played the same game as Kenma so that’s how I recognize the game, I also remember him being stuck on the level that Kenma is in now,” Anka continues. “Oh so he has finished the game?” Kuroo asks. Anka responds with a nod. “Yes. Now he has moved on to another game while waiting for the release of <em>Monster Hunter 4</em>.”</p>
<p>“Then Anka, maybe you could help Kenma since you saw your little brother play. He has been stuck on that level for a few days now,” Kuroo says with a grin. Kenma holds back a groan when he listens Kuroo. <em>Is he trying to play matchmaker? </em></p>
<p>Anka seems to stiffen up slightly. <em>Oh my God, this is awkward</em>... The girl thought, remembering the staring “battle” she has with the two-toned haired boy. Anka nervously glances towards Kenma, who also seems to be having a hard time looking at her. “I’m not really sure if I could help. But I remember that the monster has a weakness, have you found them yet?” She asks, finally managed to look at Kenma. “Yes, I have. But the attacking itself is quite hard, I haven’t managed to attack the weakness spot since the monster moves quickly,” He says. Anka nods and sighs as she leans back. “Yeah, attacking its weakness is hard. I remember my little brother getting frustrated to the point he let me finished the level when he usually doesn’t let me play his games.”</p>
<p><em>Finished? </em>“So you beat the monster?” Kenma asks with a slight intrigue in his voice. He’s getting comfortable slowly since the topic is his interests. Anka grins. “Yes. I remember being surprised and my little brother was also surprised, he still hates me for managing to beat the monster he was having a difficulty with,” She chuckles. Kenma went silent for a second. He can’t help but be curious, did the girl really beat the monster he’s currently having a hard time with? <em>I kinda want to see her play</em>, He thought.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Anka and Kuroo watches Kenma who seems like he’s thinking about something. <em>Did I say something wrong? </em>Anka thought as she slowly getting anxious.</p>
<p>Finally, Kenma raised his gaze from the screen to look at Anka. “Do you want to play?” He asked. Anka blinks a few times in surprise while he could see Kuroo’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? I mean it could be out of luck that I beat the monster,” Anka said. “Yes. Even if you lose, it wouldn’t make any difference since I have been stuck on this level,” Kenma said. Anka hesitantly takes the PSP out of Kenma’s hand. Kuroo and Kenma watches as she click the restart button. When the game starts, Kuroo and Kenma watches in silent as Anka’s fingers pushed the buttons quickly to control the character’s movements.</p>
<p>“Anka, your movement doesn’t really seems like someone who barely plays video games,” Kuroo commented. Anka grins, her gaze never leaving the screen. “Me and my little brother are both competitive. When we were in South Korea, we used to come to the internet cafes that we call as PC bang a lot and make bets while playing. You can order food in PC bang so whoever loses pays the food. I realized that my brother was far more skilled than I am so I started playing by myself once in a while so my chance in winning would be bigger,” She explains. Meanwhile, Kenma’s gaze is focused on his PSP screen as he watches Anka controls the character to attack the monster. <em>She’s actually quite skilled</em>, He thought as he quietly watches in amazement as the girl continues to play. Her fingers keep moving quickly in between the buttons.</p>
<p>Kuroo raised his gaze from the screen to look at Kenma. He grins when he looks at the expression on Kenma’s face, the pudding haired boy’s eyes are widened as he watches Anka in intrigue. Kenma and Anka is now sitting with barely a space left in between them and their shoulders are touching, although the pair don’t realize it as their focus is on the PSP’s screen. For as long as Kuroo befriends Kenma, the younger boy barely interacts with people let alone a girl. Although Kenma never said it out loud, Kuroo understands that his childhood best friend is also quite self-conscious of what other people thought of him which resulted in him having a hard time making friends. But now, seeing someone who’s other than friendly and cheerful also has a few similarities with Kenma, Kuroo sees it as a chance for his friend to befriend a girl. <em>Or maybe even date them</em>, Kuroo grins. Although they only meet Anka today, Kuroo could see that the girl is a literal sunshine. She’s cheerful, friendly and has a warm smile that seems to pull everyone in. She’s quite the opposite of Kenma. <em>Which makes her perfect for him</em>, Kuroo thought. At the end, Kuroo made a promise to himself to try and push the two together to become friends or maybe couple. Although he still needs time to see whether Anka is good enough for his friend or not.</p>
<p>The sound effects from the game broke Kuroo out of his reverie. He focuses his gaze on the PSP’s screen. His eyes widened slightly and he could see that Kenma has the same expression on his face. On the screen, written in bold letters “<em>STAGE CLEARED</em>”. Anka has beaten the monster.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Minki, hurry up! We don’t want to make them wait for too long!” Anka called out as she shouldered her bag. “<em>We? I’m </em>not the one who is invited to go to school with <em>her new </em>friends. Why do you have to bring me into this?” Minki, Anka’s younger brother, said as he appeared in the kitchen’s doorway with his eyes narrowed. Anka rolled her eyes. “What are you talking about? We <em>always </em>go to school together, Minki,” Anka said. Minki huffed as he approaches the brunette. “Well, usually there’s only the two of us but <em>now </em>you’re forcing me to go to school with two of my upperclassmen which means I have to <em>socialize early </em>in the morning,” He complained.</p><p>Anka reaches out and pinch her younger brother’s cheek then pull away before Minki could swat her arm. She sticks out her tongue at him. “Wow, you clearly are the older sibling between us two,” He deadpans. Anka chuckles. She takes the paper bag that she put on the dining table. “Let’s go!” Anka said. But before she can take another step, she feels the weight on her hand is suddenly gone. Anka turned her head to see her younger brother walking past her, a paper bag hanging on his elbow while his fingers has started fiddling with his PSP. “Aw, you <em>do </em>care,” Anka teased. Minki only response with a sigh. “Let’s go, <em>Noona</em>.”</p><p>***</p><p>“Minki, hurry up!”</p><p>“<em>Noona</em>, shut up!” Minki said without taking his eyes off of his PSP’s screen. Anka sighs. “Minki, stop playing with your PSP for a second would you? It’s impolite. You should introduce yourself first,” Anka scolded. Last night, the captain of the volleyball team has texted her after being given her phone number by Coach Naoi. Since their houses are in the same direction and they went home together yesterday, Kuroo invited the younger girl to go to school together with him and Kuroo. Anka has accepted his offer, she wouldn’t miss a chance to get to know team’s members better. But since she usually go to school with her younger brother and she feels guilty just imagining Minki walking alone to school, Anka has decided to bring Minki along with her. <em>Maybe he could talk with Kenma since they both love games</em>, She thought.</p><p>Meanwhile, Minki raised his gaze towards his sister for a second before once again focusing on his screen. “Well, we haven’t meet them yet. So there is no reason for me to stop playing,” He said. Anka huffed before turning around and continue walking towards the the lamp post at the intersection where Kuroo and Anka has agreed to meet. She couldn’t help but feel excited as she gets closer to the lamp post. She was quiet nervous meeting the boys at first since it’s been a while since she graduated from high school which also means it’s been a while since her years as a volleyball team’s manager. Anka was really close to her previous team and she treasured every memory they made, she hopes that she could have a similar relationship with the Nekoma team. That resulted in her nervousness and her worry of making a bad first impression which lead to her having a hard time sleeping the night prior to the meeting. But she was happy that none of her worries came true since the Nekoma team has welcomed her with open arms.</p><p>She talked with the members a while after practice has ended and her first impressions of the team were good. Despite his tough appearance, Yamamoto was funny and easy to talk with even though he seems nervous at the beginning. Although his loud voices sometimes surprised her (which Anka hoped he didn’t realize since she doesn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable). She also found it quite cute how he glances to her every time he spikes. Haiba Lev, the tall first year, has a playful and cheerful personality which makes it easy for her to talk to him. She found herself laughing a few times during their conversation just because she found him to be cute. Anka also talked for a while with the third years although not as long as the conversation she had with the younger ones and they warmly welcomed her and even offered to help Anka whenever she needs it. Overall, after their first meet yesterday, she has quickly grown to like the team.</p><p>Although there is one <em>small </em>problem. Kozume Kenma. Anka wouldn’t actually call him a problem since he didn’t do anything that made her uncomfortable or anything. But she doesn’t know what to think of the two-toned haired boy. They barely talked during the practice, other than the introduction the team did, since Kenma has quickly go to the club room as soon as practice finished. Anka was actually quite disappointed since she was hoping to have a small talk with each member. But her disappointment didn’t last long since she ended up going home with him and also Kuroo. From what she has seen so far, Anka concluded that Kenma has a quite and reserved personality and he also seems like he’s not that comfortable with social interactions. And he also seems like the kind of person who would do things without talking a lot.</p><p>She has seen how Kenma left the middle seat between him and Kuroo empty so Anka could sit there, which means he noticed that she was quite uncomfortable. She was grateful for that. She does usually go home with her brother, but there are some rare instances where she had to go home alone and it was not an enjoyable experience. Anka was also grateful that she got to go home together with Kenma and Kuroo, since she got to talk with Kenma although it was not a long conversation and the topic mainly revolved of the game that he was playing. But still, the conversation they had <em>slightly </em>erase the distance between the two of them which makes her happy. <em>And we only met yesterday, there’s no need to be worried</em>, Anka thought. <em>We only met yesterday but we already had that awkward staring contests, </em>Anka huffed.</p><p>Anka was brought out of her reverie by the sight of a familiar bedhead hair and two-toned hair underneath the lamp post. The two teenage boys are currently in a conversation with their back turned, although the conversation mostly consists of Kuroo talking and Kenma giving short replies. Anka turned towards her brother. “Let’s go!” She said before picking up her walking pace. “Kuroo-san! Kenma! I’m sorry for taking too long!” She called out with a sheepish grin. The two teenage boys turned their heads toward her. “Hey, Anka! It’s okay, we just arrived here not long ago,” Kuroo said with a smile on his face. Yesterday, Anka had convinced the Nekoma team (Kuroo and Kenma on their way home) to refer to her with her first name instead of her surname.</p><p>Kuroo shifted his gaze towards Minki who’s standing slightly behind her with his PSP no longer in sight, two hands holding a paper bag. “Hey! Are you Anka’s brother?”</p><p>“Yes. My name is Hirai Minki. Nice to meet you,” He said with a short bow. “Nice to meet you too. I’m Kuroo Tetsurou and this is Kozume Kenma,” Kuroo said as he nudges Kenma with his elbow. The latter who was busy playing with his PSP look up to the siblings for a second. “Yeah, nice to meet you,” He said before refocusing on his PSP screen. Minki, whose attention has been caught by Kenma’s screen, takes a few steps forward so now he is standing side by side with Anka. “Whoah, Kozume-senpai, is that <em>Monster Hunter 3?</em>”</p><p>Kenma jumps a little, seemingly surprised by the younger boy’s voice, before looking up to meet Minki’s gaze. “Yeah,” He said. “And please just call me Kenma.”</p><p>Minki grins. “What level are you currently on? I’ve finished the game two days ago. Have you heard about <em>Monster Hunter 4? </em>It will release in one month. I’m really excited to see what new features they will add to the new game. What do you think about <em>Monster Hunter 3</em> though?” Kuroo, Anka and Kenma blinks their eyes a few times seeing Minki who has started rambling. Realizing the silence that has grown between them, Minki’s cheeks went red. “I’m sorry for rambling, I’m just excited to find someone who plays the same game as me,” He said with a sheepish grin. “No worries,” Kuroo said. The black haired boy glances to Kenma who seemingly in thought.</p><p>“I’m one level away from facing the big boss,” Kenma said quietly. Minki blinks his eyes a few times. “I’ve heard about <em>Monster Hunter 4</em>. I’m quiet excited since the new features that they talked about in the official news seem interesting,” Kenma continued. Minki brightens up, taking it as a sign to continue the conversation. “Yeah, me too. But don’t you think..” The boy has started his rambling once again as he started walking with Kenma walking beside him. Kuroo and Anka, who has been forgotten by the two boys who are conversing about their shared love for game, grins at each other before following their steps.</p><p>***</p><p>After taking a train ride for ten minutes and then walking for another three minutes, they have finally arrived at school. Minki parted ways with the three older students who will have a morning practice before classes started. “See you later, Kenma-san! It was great talking to you. You’re so cool! I don’t know how my weird sister could befriend someone as cool as you, but she did,” Minki said with a grin, ignoring Anka’s protests (“<em>Is that how you talk about your older sister, You Idiot.”</em>). “We should play together sometimes!” He continued. “See you later too, Kuroo-san!” Minki turned to the black haired boy. Then, his expression turned flat as his gaze shifted to Anka. Minki stares at her for one second before turning around and started walking towards his class. “You little sh- HEY! MINKI! MY PAPER BAG!” Anka shouted as she started running towards her brother. But then she stopped on her tracks and turned towards the two boys. “I’m so sorry but you can go first to the gym!” She said with a short bow before continue running towards her brother.</p><p>Kenma stares at the empty space for a few seconds. <em>It’s still too early for this</em>, He thought. Kenma turned his head towards Kuroo when he heard his friend’s laugh. “Let’s go, Kenma,” Kuroo said before he turned towards the direction of the gym with Kenma following behind.</p><p>Kuroo pushed the door to the gym open before stepping aside while holding the door to let Kenma enter first. “I’m happy to see you have a new friend, Kenma,” He said. Kenma turned slightly towards Kuroo with a slight frown on his face. “Huh?” Kuroo grins. “Minki, Anka’s brother,” He said. “Oh yeah, I wouldn’t call us friends since we’ve talked only once,” Kenma said. Kuroo shrugs. “Still, I was happy to see you rambling.” Kenma narrows his eyes. “I’m not <em>rambling</em>,” Kenma said. “Sure, sure.”</p><p>It seems like there’s more that Kuroo wanted to say but they both get sidetracked with the little crowd in the corner of the gym. Kuroo started walking towards the group with Kenma following beside him. As they get closer to the crowd, Kai who heard their footsteps approaching turned towards them. “Kuroo, Kenma, hey! Look! Anka brought food for us!” Kai said, holding up an aluminium food packaging with a grin. “Anka-san, thank you so much for the food! It’s delicious! You’ve officially become my favorite manager,” Lev’s excited voice caught Kenma’s attention. Anka laughs. “I’m the team’s only manager, but thank you, Lev!” Anka said with a grin.</p><p>It was then that Anka feels someone’s gaze is on her. She diverts her gaze to the source only to meet Kenma’s golden eyes. Anka shots him a grin before quickly taking two aluminium food packagings and walking towards Kenma and Kuroo. “Hi! These are for you guys,” Anka said as she gives one box to each of them. “I hope you like it!” Anka smiles. Kenma stares at the sticker on top of the box. It’s a sticker of a cat with two-toned hair, just like him, and a short message beside it written in red.</p><p>
  <em>Hi, Kenma! Thank you for the warm welcome! Although we didn’t talk for too long but I had a great time talking with you and thank you for being considerate at the train, don’t think I didn’t notice ;) I hope we’ll become good friends! – Anka</em>
</p><p>“Thank you, Anka! Wow, you must put a lot of work into it. Preparing the food and the stickers,” Kuroo said. Kenma glances to his friend’s sticker only to find a different message, Anka has written an individual message for all of them. “So this is what’s inside of the paper bag,” Kuroo continued. Anka grins at them. “Yeah. And I had a lot of fun preparing it so I hope you’ll enjoy it,” Anka said. She has written the stickers as soon as she got home and then woke up early today to prepare the food, which just consist of kimbab. Although she has helped her mother with her catering business, but the brunette’s still not confident with cooking Japanese food which is why she opted to prepare a Korean food instead. “Of course, we will. Thank you!”</p><p>“Thank you for the food, Anka. I appreciate it,” Kenma said. The girl shifted her gaze towards Kenma. Their eyes meet. Despite his growing nervousness, he gives her a small smile. But then, Anka’s eyes brighten and a smile grows on her face. The brightness and warmth of it ease Kenma’s nervousness a little. “You’re welcome, Kenma!”</p><p>After the morning practice has ended, Anka makes her way to her classroom with a spring in her step. Kenma, who is in Class 2-3 which means that his class is right beside hers, has accepted her invitation to go to class together. Yamamoto actually wanted to go to class together with them too, but he has to go meet his Math teacher before class and so he left to the teacher’s room with a pout on his face. Anka only laughed seeing his pout as she pat his shoulder. “It’s okay, Tora. We can walk together to class next time,” She said before waving goodbye to him.</p><p>As they make their way to class, they don’t talk at all. Kenma opted to play with his PSP as he sneaks glances to Anka who is humming. The team reactions to her food has clearly put her in a good mood. Yamamoto and Lev has given her compliments with each bite they took, along with the sound effects to show how much they enjoy her food. Although he thinks that they were overreacting, he didn’t say anything because of Anka’s laugh and her blushing face as she pats their shoulder, happy with their reactions. <em>And her food was delicious, </em>He thought. <em>So their reactions were not that exaggerated</em>.</p><p>“Kenma?” Anka’s voice brought him out of his reverie. Kenma takes his eyes off of his PSP’s screen to look at Anka. “Hm?”</p><p>Anka smiles. “We’ve arrived at your class,” Kenma turned his head to see his class’s number written on the door. “Oh, yeah.”</p><p>“See you later, Kenma! Good luck on your game!” Anka shots him a smile before continuing her way to her class. Kenma stares as Anka pushed the door to her class open and only tears his gaze away when Anka enters the room.</p><p>***</p><p>Anka pushed the door to her classroom open, a frown on her face when she sees the empty seat beside hers. <em>Where is she? </em>She thought as she enters her class. “Good morning, Anka!” Edogawa Keiko, her class’s representative, greeted her. Anka glances towards the female and smiles at her. “Good morning!” Anka makes her way to her desk which is located in the middle, one seat away from the window. Anka puts her bag on her desk along with her paper bag. <em>She’s gonna be late if she doesn’t arrive soon, </em>Anka thought worriedly as she takes out her books and pencil case for the first class. She seated herself in her seat before opening her sketchbook. She has always enjoyed sketching and drawing since she was young. She even bought herself a sketchbook with a plain cover so she could draw her own cover.</p><p>Just as she started drawing flowers on the cover, her vision darkened as she feels hands covering her eyes. “Guess who,” A teasing voice said right beside her ears.</p><p>Anka laughs as she pulls away the hands covering her eyes. “Hanare! I was worried that you’re gonna be late! It is unlike you to come to school not long before school starts,” Anka said. As soon as she finishes talking, the loud ringing of the school’s bell was heard, signalling the start of class. Suzuki Hanare, her bestfriend of two years, only shots her a grin as she seated herself. “I don’t see the point of coming to school early if I don’t get to see you,” Hanare said which earned an eyeroll from Anka. Hanare laughs.</p><p>“Oh my God, Hanare, it’s still too early for you to be greasy,” A voice was heard from the seat in front of Hanare. Hanare turned her head sharply and narrows her eyes at the boy sitting in front of her. “Shut up, Kazuki. Just say that you’re jealous and go,” Hanare said. The boy, Morioka Kazuki, raised his head to stare at the green-haired girl. “I’m sorry, Hanare. I know that I’m handsome and it’s hard to not fall in love with me, but I don’t feel the same way,” He said with a tone usually used for children. Hanare gagged. “But,” Kazuki turned towards Anka, who has continued her drawing. “Anka is <em>exactly </em>my type. So what do you say, Anka? You and me on a date?” He said as he wiggles his eyebrows. He yelps when a smack was landed on his head. “Shut up, Kazuki. It’s too <em>early </em>for you to be greasy,” Hanare mimicked in a mocking tone.</p><p>Kazuki rolls his eyes. “By the way,” He said. “How was your first day as a manager?” He asked towards the brunette.</p><p>Anka raised her gaze towards her friends. She grins. “It was amazing. The team is really nice and they were welcoming, I decided to brought them food this morning as a thank you for their warmth welcome, and talking about food,” Anka crouches down to where she puts the last two aluminium boxes on her desk’s drawer. “These are for you guys,” She said as she gives each box to her friends. Hanare gasps. “Oh my God, yes! I’ve always loved your cooking! Thank you, Anka!” Anka grins. “No problem!”</p><p>“Thank you for the food. And I’m happy to hear that they were welcoming,” Kazuki said as he put the box in his drawer. “If they ever mess with you, just talk to me okay? I’ll beat them up if I have too,” He said, “Yeah! Just tell me, Anka! If they ever make you sad or upset, I’ll make them regret it,” Hanare adds with her eyes narrowed. Kazuki snickers. “Oh really? What could you do, Hanare? The captain is, what, 188 cm if I’m not mistaken. And they also have that ridiculously tall first year, what was his name, Haiba Lev or something,” He said. “And you’re what? 160 cm?”</p><p>“<em>160.8 cm</em>, Morioka Kazuki. Get it right! And by the way, I don’t care if they’re three meters or something. That’s not gonna stop me from protecting Anka,” Hanare said smugly.</p><p>Anka rolls her eyes. “Guys, you’re overreacting. Calm down! They’re nice people okay,” She said. Hanare smiles at the brunette. “Well we don’t know what the future holds,” Hanare said. But then, she frowns. “But wait, now you’ll have morning practice and then practice after school and also weekend practice right?” Hanare asked. Anka nods. The green-haired girl groans. “That means our time together will be limited. <em>This sucks!</em>” She said as she slides down on her seat. “Stop being overdramatic, Hanare,” Kazuki said. Hanare groans once again as she lays down her head on her arms.</p><p>Anka laughs. “Don’t worry, Hanare! I will make some time for you, okay? And we don’t always have weekend practice, only to prepare for competitions and maybe practice match,” She said as she pats the girl’s shoulder. Hanare raised her head a little. “Pinky promise?” She asks as her pinky finger reaches out towards Anka. “<em>Urgh, </em>why are you so childish?” Kazuki groans before turning forward on his seat. The boy lays his head down on his arms, trying to get some sleep before the teacher arrives. Anka grins at Hanare before linking her pinky finger with Hanare’s. “Pinky promise! After all, you’re my best friend!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Almost a week has passed since Anka became a manager, she was introduced to the team on Monday and now Thursday has come. So far, Anka enjoys her time as the team’s manager. She would be lying if she said that it’s not tiring to juggle between her duties as a manager and also her schoolwork, but the team’s antics easily lift up her mood. The volleyball practices with Nekoma have reminded her of her time as her junior high school’s team manager and without taking a long time, her being the manager for Nekoma becomes natural for her.</p>
<p>She would help setting up and cleaning the gym before and after practices with the help of the team members, giving out water bottles with an encouraging smile and message, sometimes helping the members with their spikes practice, joke with the members especially Lev and Yamamoto, and then going home together with Kuroo and Kenma after practice ended.</p>
<p>Amongst the members, Anka had gotten close with Lev, Yamamoto, Kuroo and Kenma. Yamamoto and his loud voice has made her laugh whenever her mood was down, she was happy when Yamamoto has allowed her to call him Tora since as far as Anka knows only Kenma gets that privelege.</p>
<p>Lev and his excited personality also made Anka soft, Anka also thinks his blushing cheeks whenever Anka ruffles his hair or encourages him when he fails (again) in spiking Kenma’s toss is adorable.</p>
<p>Kuroo, Kai and Yaku has also helped her a lot in understanding the members and even sometimes helped her with her Japanese everytime she had a hard time. Although she is closest to Kuroo due to them going to school and going home together every day.</p>
<p>And Kenma. Even though there were not a lot of talking involved between her and Kenma, compared with Lev, Yamamoto and Kuroo, she feels that in she had gotten a little bit closer with the quiet setter. Kenma and Minki’s friendship has played a part in her budding friendship with Kenma.</p>
<p>As Anka expected, their shared love for games has brought them closer together with them playing together almost every night (Anka has to pinched her brother’s ear to stop him from playing and get some sleep) and she has a short talk with Kenma through the mics her brother’s uses in between their game. Kenma has become somewhat more talkative with Minki’s presence although their conversations mainly revolved around games or sometimes they would just walk side by side to school together while playing their own games. Anka sometimes would also join in to their conversations.</p>
<p>Her daily phonecall with Hanare every night has also helped in making her feel less tired. Hanare and Kazuki has been supportive about her becoming Nekoma’s manager (apart from Hanare’s whining about how the boys had stolen her precious friend which earned a “Shut up” from Kazuki), giving her advices whenever she needs.</p>
<p>Earlier today before class, the green-haired girl asked her to hang out and have a “girls’ day” on Saturday which Anka has happily agreed to. She can’t wait to rewatch Naruto with Hanare again and also have their usual deep talks. Out of Kazuki and Hanare, even though Anka would never admit it to avoid hurting Kazuki’s feelings, Anka feels the most comfortable with Hanare. They had known each other since their first day in Nekoma High School. Hanare was the one who approached her at first and when they started talking they instantly clicked and has been best friends ever since.</p>
<p>They have become so close to the point that one day, Hanare told Anka the truth about her sexuality. She remembered Hanare’s trembling voice and body and she remembered pulling Hanare into a hug after she finished talking. Hanare had also told her that day about her parents and their reaction to Hanare coming out. She remembered crying together with Hanare before promising to herself to protect Hanare and becomes the best friend she could be. That day and that promise had even more  tightened the bond between them. Since that day, Hanare and Anka has become more protective of each other. Anka inviting Hanare to sleep at her home whenever she argued with her parents and Hanare scaring the boys who flirt with Anka to the point she became uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Kazuki became close to Anka and Hanare a few weeks into school when the three of them were put into a group project together and the first thing Kazuki did was to flirt with Anka, that had annoyed Hanare which lead to the two teenagers arguing with each other and that had been the dynamics between them ever since. Kazuki would jokingly flirt at Anka (although Anka knows that Kazuki has no romantic feelings whatsoever for her) and then Hanare would scold him for it. They would also argue over the smallest things which Anka doesn’t understand the purpose of.</p>
<p>The sound of the bell’s ringing signify the ending of today’s class. Anka instantly started packing up so she wouldn’t be late to the after-school practice.</p>
<p>“See you tomorrow, Anka, Hanare!” The brunette raised her head to see Kazuki walking past her, his messy blond hair looks messier than ever and his shirt sticking out of his pants. “See you tomorrow, Kazuki!” Anka replied while Hanare just hums.</p>
<p>After zipping up her backpack, Anka shouldered her bag before looking towards her friend. “Hanare, are you ready?” Hanare grins. “Let’s go!” The green haired-girl takes Anka’s hand before dragging her out of the classroom. Out of her two friends, Hanare complained the most about how Anka had less time to hang out since joining the volleyball club.</p>
<p>They used to go to the nearest convenience store after school almost everyday and then buy some snacks to eat while having a talk at the nearest park. But since they volleyball club has morning and after-school practices, their time together at school has been lessened even though they do still spend break time together. Well that is if Hanare doesn’t have any student council’s duties since she decided to join the student council at the beginning of their second year. And because of that, Hanare has told Anka that she would walk Anka to the gym for after school volleyball practice everyday so they would have more time together.</p>
<p>Anka didn’t sign up to any club activities during her first year since she was busy helping her mother with her catering business that just started and Hanare has refused to sign up to any club because of Anka. Anka convinced her to join one but Hanare refused saying, “<em>I don’t want to leave you alone!”</em>. Anka appreciated it but at the same time also confused because Kazuki has joined the basketball club without worrying abotu her or Hanare. But, that did allow them to have a lot of free time together which pushed them even closer together.</p>
<p>As they walk in the hallway towards the gym, Hanare swings their connected hands while talking to the brunette.</p>
<p>“But none of them do anything rude to you, right?” Hanare cuts off Anka in the middle of her telling story about how Yamamoto tried to scare Lev after telling him about a “ghost” at the club room only to ended with Yamamoto getting scared of himself after putting on a long black hair wig and accidentally looked his reflection in the mirror.</p>
<p>Anka smiles. “Of course not. Stop worrying, Hanare! They’re all nice boys despite their questionable antics,” Anka reassured while squeezing her hand.</p>
<p>Hanare huffed. “Well you never know for sure. And I have a valid reason for my worries you know,” Hanare said. “You’re a kind person, Anka. Actually you’re <em>too </em>kind. You tend to priorities others above yourself. Someone could take an advantage of that. And also you avoid confrontations in fear of hurting others,” She continued.</p>
<p>“Well yeah, I admit that is one of my shortcoming but,” Anka turned towards her friend. “Everything’s gonna be fine, okay? They have been nothing but helpful and welcoming,” She said. “And don’t worry if something ever happened you’ll be the first person I talk to.”</p>
<p>Hanare grins. “As you should. We’re best friends after all and bestfriends protect each other,” She said. “And yeah maybe I do worry too much because then again,” The green haired girl reaches out and pinch Anka’s cheeks. “Who would ever hurt someone as cute as you?” Hanare said cutely which earned a groan from Anka.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Hanare escorted her to the club room before going to her student council’s meeting. After Hanare left, Anka quickly changed into her training uniform before going to the gym to set the gym up. None of the members have arrived yet, so Anka go straight to the janitor’s room where the net is stored. She decided to bring out the net first so the boys could start quickly once they arrived since she couldn’t set the net by herself due to the heavy weight of the steel holding the net.</p>
<p>“Anka-san, let me help you!” Anka turned around to see Lev jogging towards her with Kuroo following behind, a hand raised to wave at her. “Oh, thank you.”</p>
<p>Anka is actually quiet confused to not see Kuroo and Kenma arriving together since they’ve arrived together for every morning and after-school practice. “Kenma is meeting his Math teacher,” Kuroo’s voice breaks her reverie. Anka blushed, realizing that her expression gaves her confusion away. “Okay,” Anka grins sheepishly at Kuroo before continuing to prepare the gym. She go back to the janitor’s room to pulled the cart containing the volleyballs to the middle of the gym before taking the members’ water bottles so she could bring them to fill up the water.</p>
<p>“Do you need help?” The sudden voice made the brunette jumped a little. Anka stands still to make sure none of the water bottles fall before turning around to see Kenma standing behind her. “Sorry,” Kenma said quietly. Anka gives him a comforting smile. “No need to apologize. And yes, your help would be appreciated,” She said. Kenma takes the rest of the water bottles before walking alongside Anka in silence to the faucet where the water bottles were usually filled up.</p>
<p>Kenma couldn’t help but feel slightly awkward with the silence. So he decided to make himself busy by filling up the water bottles. <em>Thank God there are two faucets...</em></p>
<p>He had offered his help to Anka impulsively without realizing what he had done until the brunette accepted his help with a smile. Although honestly, now he slightly regrets his decision since there is no one but them and Kenma has never been expert in starting a conversation. The situation kinda reminds him of during his early meeting with Kuroo, although he admits that Anka is more talkative and less awkward than Kuroo was. But he had his video games as a way of starting conversation and now there are only water bottles and faucets that he couldn’t use as a conversation starter.</p>
<p>“Kenma,” The girl’s voice breaks his reverie. Kenma turned his head as he stares silently at Anka. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>“Huh?” Kenma blinks. Suddenly, he feels his hands getting wet. The two-toned boy turned his attention back to the water bottle only to realize that he was too immersed in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the water has overflowed. He grimaces as he closed the lid before putting the water bottle back before taking another one.</p>
<p>Anka giggles. “Anyway, as I said, thank you for everything. For the water bottles and for being my brother’s friend,” She said. “It’s nothing. Games played a big part in it since, to be honest, I don’t think we would be close if he doesn’t like games too,” He replied.</p>
<p>Anka hums as she puts down a water bottle before taking a new one. “Yes. But still, thank you for that. Minki never told me but I know that he has been getting a hard time getting friends,” She said. “I mean, he does have friends but not anyone that he is really comfortable with. So I was grateful to see the two of you getting along, he’s clearly happier these days.” Anka grins at him. “That means my plan worked since I brought him that morning with the intention of introducing him to you.”</p>
<p>Kenma nods. “Thank you for getting me a friend to play video games with. Kuroo also likes playing video games but he prefers physical activites like volleyball,” Kenma sighes. “And I’ve done enough volleyball in school.” Anka laughes.</p>
<p>After that, another silence ensues between them although this time it’s more comfortable than before. Kenma debates with himself for a moment without once again turning to the girl as he fills up another water bottle. “Anka?” The brunette hums as she turned towards him with a smile. Somehow her smile makes him more nervous, Kenma curses silently as he focuses on the faucet. “If you’d like, we can play games together sometimes,” He finished.</p>
<p>Before Anka could say anything, Kuroo called for Kenma from the doorway to start practicing since the members have gathered. Kenma apologized to Anka for leaving her to deal with the rest of the water bottles. Kenma turned around to start making his way back to the gym. “Oh, Kenma?” Kenma stopped on his tracks to turned his head towards the girl. “I’d love to,” She said with a bright smile and eyes that are brighter than they were before.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Today’s practice consists of conditioning and the members practicing their spikes. After Anka finished filling up all the water bottles for the second time after their break time, she returned to the gym to prepare the towels for the members at the end of the practice. The brunette sits at a bench while folding the towels and at the same time observes the members while they practice. The blue-eyed girl couldn’t help but grimaces everytime Lev failed to spike Kenma’s toss, Kenma is also visibly stressed by Lev’s continuous failure. But Anka admires how Lev never seems to let his failures stop him, the grey-haired boy keeps asking Kenma to toss to him again until he succeeds. Although she could see how Kenma is growing tired and feels slightly sorry for him.</p>
<p>The sound of Coach Naoi’s whistle caught their attention. “Alright, that’s enough for today practice,” Coach Naoi said.</p>
<p>Anka quickly approaches the boys with as much water bottles she could bring in her hands. With an encouraging smile, she gives a water bottle to each member of the team.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Kuroo said. Anka grins before moving to Kenma who’s standing beside him. “Here you go,” She said. Kenma nods as he tries to slow his breath. “Thank you.” Just as Anka almost say something, she remembered that there are members that haven’t received a water bottle. So she says a quick sorry to Kenma who frowns, not understanding what was Anka sorry for, before giving water bottles to the rest of the team.</p>
<p>“Where is Lev?” She asked Yaku as she hands out a water bottle to him. “There he is,” Yaku nods towards behind Anka. Anka turned around to see him practicing his toss.</p>
<p>Anka approaches the grey-haired boy. “Lev, take a rest,” She said as she hands out the last water bottle to him. The boy turned to her with a grin. “I need to practice more,” He said while opening the water bottle before drinking the content in one gulp. Anka stares at him for one second before taking the towels she had folded and begin giving the towels to each member.</p>
<p>“Kenma,” She said. Kenma stares at Anka silently as he starts wiping his sweat with the towel. “It might take some time, but he’ll spike your toss. Just believe in him, okay?”</p>
<p>Kenma sighs. “But how much time does he need? He doesn’t have any pattern and I don’t know what kind of toss to give him,” Kenma said.</p>
<p>“Eum... Why don’t you just view it like when you’re battling against one of the monster in your games?” Anka advises. “Sometimes it seems like a monster is impossible to beat, whether because of their strength or agility or any other aspects. But I think no matter how strong the monster is, there is always a weakness, an opening,” She continued. Kenma stares at the girl as he listens. Feeling the boy’s gaze on her, her cheeks redden slightly. “Um, well I think what you need is patience. Just take one step back and patiently observes the monster, you’ll find the opening,” Anka said nervously.</p>
<p><em>Oh no what if he thinks I think of Lev as a monster. </em>“Wait, I didn’t mean that Lev is a <em>monster</em> I-“ Anka said quickly. “Yeah, I get it,” Kenma cuts her off, noticing the girl started to rambling. “Thank you, Anka,” He said. Anka nods quickly before approaching Lev who has started talking with Yaku.</p>
<p>“Hi, here are your towels,” She said catching the attention of the two boys. “Anka-san, thank you!” Lev said excitedly. “Thank you, Anka,” Yaku said with a friendly smile.</p>
<p>Anka grins. “No problem. And Lev?” Lev hums as he wipes his sweat with the towel he received. “You will spike Kenma’s toss. Don’t ever give up! I think you’re doing great for someone who started volleyball in high school and you just need more time then you’ll be an amazing player,” Anka said. Honestly, she’s not that good in comforting people but seeing how Lev has worked hard in practicing has pushed her to show support for the younger boy. <em>I just hope that he doesn’t think of it as cheesy. </em>She grimaces.</p>
<p>But after those words leave Anka’s mouth, she was surprised to see the younger boy smiling brightly. “Thank you, Anka! Just you watch! I’ll be an amazing player and become the Ace of Nekoma,” He said excitedly resulting in a laugh from Anka. “I know you will.”</p>
<p>“Oy,” Yamamoto said from another side of the room. “You can speak like that <em>after </em>you’re able to spike Kenma’s toss and upgrade your skills, you’re still an amateur at best,” He said receiving a protest from Lev.</p>
<p>“Lev,” Kuroo said catching their attention. Anka turned to the captain to see a grin on his face. “Wipe that blush off of your face,” He said which only results in Lev’s face getting redder. Anka laughs as the team members’ voices getting louder teasing Lev except for Kenma who just stands silently while observing his teammates with a tired face. Anka decided to walk over to him and stand beside him as they watch their teammates together.</p>
<p>“All right, Everyone. Gather up! I have an announcement to make,” Coach Naoi said with a loud voice. The members instantly gathered up around her.</p>
<p>“So two weeks from now, we will go to Miyagi to have our practice camp before finally practice match with Karasuno,” Coach Naoi said, instantly making the members go silent. Coach Naoi grins. “Prepare yourself for the Battle at the Garbage Dump.”</p>
<p>“’The Battle at the Garbage Dump’? What does that mean?” Anka asks later on as she walks off the train with Kuroo and Kenma following behind. Kenma has pulled out his PSP and now his fingers are busy pressing the buttons as he battles the monsters in his game. “Well basically, our Nekomata-sensei and Karasuno’s Coach Ukai has this longtime competition between them. Karasuno was a former powerhouse in Miyagi but after Coach Ukai stopped being their coach, they are called as ‘The Fallen Champions’ and ‘The Flightless Crows’ because they failed to pass their prefecture’s preliminaries in tournaments after that. And the name ‘the Battle at the Garbage Dump’ is because our animal representatives, cat and crow, are usually found by the dumpster,” He explained.</p>
<p>“Oh wow,” Anka commented. Kuroo laughs. “Yes wow,” He agreed, “I’m excited because we haven’t had a match with Karasuno in a long time and it’s actually our first match against them during my time here in Nekoma.” Kuroo grins. “And as far as I know, they never defeated us in practice matches.”</p>
<p>Anka hums. “Well then, let’s keep up that record!” Anka said with a grin.</p>
<p>Then, the sight of the lamp post at the intersection leading to her house’s road caught her attention. “Well see you tomorrow,” She said. “See you tomorrow, Anka!” Kuroo said while waving. “Kuroo,” Kenma said catching both of their attention. “Hm?” Kuroo asked. “Did you forget?” He asked. Kuroo was silent, seemingly in thought, while Anka stands still just in case they have something important to tell her relating to the club.</p>
<p>A lightbulb seems to light up in Kuroo’s head. “Oh!” He said. “Anka, the team are planning to go out and have lunch together and then maybe hang out this Saturday as a way of bonding and also to welcome our first manager in years. So, will you be able to make it?” He continued.</p>
<p>Anka grins. “Yes!”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p><em>“Can you imagine how annoyed I was? They told me the program was cancelled </em>after <em>the proposal was </em>halfway<em> done.”</em></p>
<p>Anka hums as she listens to Hanare complaining about the student council through her phone. The brunette bends down as she wraps her hair with a tower. After she was satisfied with how her hair was wrapped, Anka makes her way to her the game room where Anka and her brother put their video games and board games while bringing her phone with Hanare still rambling. Her parents decided to have a game room instead as an effort to limit her brother’s game time.</p>
<p>The blue-eyed girl pushed the door open to find, once again, Minki playing his video games with his mics turned on. “Hanare, wait, I need to discipline my brother,” Anka said before muting herself right as Hanare laughes.</p>
<p>She could hear Kenma’s voice as he discusses with Minki about their game strategy. “Minki, don’t stay up late! We still have school tomorrow,” She reminds him. “Yeah, yeah, shut up,” was Minki’s only reply. Anka narrows her eyes at the blonde haired boy before approaching him to ruffle his hair. “Oh my God, <em>Noona</em>, stop annoying me. I will sleep before 12am,” He complained. “Okay. I’ll come to your room to make sure you sleep,” Anka said with a grin. Minki grumbles. “Okay, now go away!”</p>
<p>“Yes, yes,” Anka said. Then before she leaves the room, she turned around with a grin. “Hello, Kenma!”</p>
<p>Minki groans. “Hello, Anka,” Kenma’s voice was heard through the speaker. Anka, satisfied after bothering her brother, goes out of the room to make her way back to her bedroom. She unmuted herself before pressing her phone to her ear. “I’m sorry, Hanare. Big sister stuff, so the program was cancelled and?”</p>
<p><em>“No worries. So yeah, the program was cancelled and I’m just upset why didn’t they tell me right after the decision was made like I spent </em>hours <em>working on that proposal. Like okay, that’s my responsibility but it’s still upsetting that they simply </em>forgot <em>to tell me</em>,” Hanare complained. Before Anka could say anything, the girl on the phone sighes. “<em>This week is quiet stressful and I </em>can’t wait <em>to hang out with you on Saturday</em>.”</p>
<p>Anka freezes up. <em>Damn, I </em>did <em>plan to hang out with Hanare. How did I forget that? I said yes to Kuroo and I would feel guilty  if I tell him that I can’t join them now. He did say it was also to welcome their </em>first <em>manager in </em>years<em>.</em></p>
<p><em>“...Anka?”</em> Anka blinks when Hanare’s voice was heard through her phone after a short silence between them. “<em>What’s wrong?</em>”</p>
<p>Anka groans. “I’m so sorry, Hanare. When I walked home with Kuroo and Kenma, Kuroo invited me to hang out with the team on Saturday to bond and also as a way of welcoming their first manager in years and um... I said yes,” Anka said. The girl waits worriedly for a reaction from her friend only to receive nothing but silence. Anka who was sitting on her bed while leaned back on the headboard sits up straight and pulls the phone away from her ear to look at the screen, wondering if the call has been cut off. “Um... Hanare?” She asked. Still silence.</p>
<p><em>Oh she’s upset</em>, Anka thought in panic. “I’m so sorry I forgot about our plan. I was just too excited when I heard him and I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”</p>
<p>After a while, Hanare’s laugh could be heard through her phone. <em>“No worries, Anka. I understand. It’s okay. We still have Sunday to hang out... You’re free on Sunday right?” </em>Anka sighs in relief. “Yeah, I’m free on Sunday. We could hang out in my house and you could watch me crying over Kakashi again and we could also ordered that fried chicken you love,” Anka said. “<em>Well then, we’ll hang out on Sunday. It’s okay, Anka.”</em></p>
<p>Anka laughes. “I thought you were mad at me,” She said. “<em>Anka, I could never get mad at you,” </em>Hanare chuckles. “<em>By the way, how was your day? Did Yamamoto do something weird again?”</em></p>
<p>Anka leaned back on her headboard once again before started telling Hanare about her day until she falls asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kenma sighs as he pulls down his black hoodie over his head. Saturday has arrived which means today is the day the Nekoma team will have lunch together to bond as a team and also to welcome their first female manager in years. To be honest, rather than going out he prefers to spend his weekends on his games. Weekends are precious and Kenma has grown to value weekends even more ever since he started playing volleyball and had to spend some of his weekends on weekend practices. But the members were excited with what Kuroo has proposed, especially now that there is a girl amongst them. Since the rest of the members agreed and majority rules, here he is getting ready to go to the restaurant with Kuroo and Anka.</p>
<p>He actually planned to make up some excuse so he doesn’t need to attend but Kuroo would come over to his house and see through his lie at once and Kenma couldn’t help but roll his eyes just imagining Kuroo nagging him.</p>
<p>Although, there is one other thing that played a part in him deciding to join today’s hang out. Anka. Yesterday on Friday, the brunette had said <em>“See you tomorrow” </em>towards him and Kuroo before parting ways with the boys at the usual lamppost. The twinkles in her eyes and also her bright excited smile that he knew would diminish if he doesn’t show up on Saturday, since the girl would probably worry about him if he had used sick as an excuse.</p>
<p>It hasn’t even been one week since Kenma meet Anka but he feels like the two of them have grown close quickly, thanks to Minki being his partner in playing games. That fact somewhat scared him a little bit since Kenma has never been an expert in the friends sector and it usually takes some time for him to grow comfortable around someone. But with Anka, the girl’s bright smile and personality had somehow pulled him closer and make it easy for him to be comfortable around her. Sure, there are some awkward moments. But it’s not the kind of awkward moments he couldn’t handle, the blue-eyed girl would also quickly break the tension which helped him in being even more comfortable around her. All of that lead to him inviting Anka to play games with him sometimes a few days before.</p>
<p>Although, from what Kenma observes, it’s the same for the other members. They all grow comfortable quickly around Anka. Though that’s not really a mystery since the girl had make sure that she speaks with each member of the team to get to know them better and also offer some inputs whenever she sees someone struggling, like what she did with Kenma.</p>
<p><em>Wait why am I even thinking so hard about it? </em>He huffed. Kenma decided to make himself busy with making sure that he has everything he needed. <em>Wallet, PSP, phone...</em></p>
<p>The sound of footsteps on the hallway outside his door caught his attention. <em>Kuroo, </em>he thought. Years of knowing the black-haired senior who would randomly enter his house as if it is his own, usually to make sure that he has enough sleep or to force him to go on a morning run with him or sometimes just to hang out and play video games together, Kenma had Kuroo’s footsteps pattern engraved in his memory.</p>
<p>And as he expected, not even five seconds later Kuroo barged through the door. Before Kuroo could say anything, Kenma walks past him with his hands in his hoodie’s pocket. “Let’s go, Kuroo.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Kenma leaned against the lamp post as he and Kuroo waits for Anka. “I texted her, she said she’ll be here soon,” Kuroo said. Kenma who is focused on the game said nothing. Kuroo sighed. “Later on in the restaurant, I want you to eat and stop playing with your games,” Kuroo said. That also receieved no answer from Kenma. Kuroo knows that his friend doesn’t eat much and sometimes even tend to skip meals in favor his games, that’s why whenever they’re together he would make sure that Kenma eats instead of playing his games. He’d also sometimes text Kenma to remind him to eat something.</p>
<p>Kuroo had just opened his mouth to say something when a voice caught their attention. “Kuroo! Kenma! I’m so sorry for making you wait!”</p>
<p>The two boys turned their heads toward the source of the voice. “Hi, Anka! Don’t worry. We just arrived not long ago,” Kuroo said with a grin.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the sight of Anka has stopped Kenma from breathing for a second. It’s his first time seeing Anka not in a Nekoma training suit or their school uniform and she looks <em>good</em>. The brunette is wearing a white short-sleeved blouse, a pink skirt that reached past her knees, white sneaker and a white sling back. She had let her long straight brown her down and only put on white hair pins on one side. Of course it’s not his first time seeing a good-looking girl, Kenma has always been the kind of guy who is honest with his thoughts even though he never said any of those thoughts out loud. And right now, he thinks Anka looks beautiful. But of course, he’s gonna keep those thoughts to himself.</p>
<p>Although not the same thing could be said for his friend. “You look good, Anka,” Kuroo complimented with a grin.</p>
<p>Anka, who he realized has approached them and now is standing in front of them, shyly grins with a slight blush decorating her cheeks. “Thank you, Kuroo. You look good too,” She said.</p>
<p>Kenma couldn’t help but huffed. Somehow the sight of Anka’s blushing cheeks annoyed him. <em>A little bit</em>. But he couldn’t complain much because he doesn’t have the courage to compliment the girl directly. So instead, he said “Let’s go” before started walking towards the train station.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The whole way to the restaurant, Kenma had continued playing his games while Kuroo and Anka were talking to each other. Sometimes, Anka would observes Kenma playing games and comments a few things here and there. In the middle of laughing at a funny story of Kenma which Kuroo told her (Kuroo had ignored all of Kenma protests), she caught sight of their reflection at the train’s window. The stark difference between their outfits almost seem funny to her. Kenma with his black hoodie, Kuroo with his red shirt and Anka with her pink-white outfit.</p>
<p>“Hey, do you mind if I take a picture of our reflection?” Anka asked. “No,” Kuroo said. Kenma just shakes his head without looking up from his game.</p>
<p>After mumbling a thank you, Anka took out her phone and open her camera app. She points the camera so she would get a good angle. Kuroo, who fixed his hair quickly, had smiled as he gets ready for the photo. While Kenma is still busy playing his games. Anka contemplates for a second whether it’s okay if she asked Kenma to stop playing for a while but before she could say anything, the boy had paused his game before he stares forward at his reflection. Anka smiles before pressing the shutter button.</p>
<p>After taking a few photos, the brunette checks the photos she had taken and she can’t help but notice something. Kenma had apparently scooted closer to Anka which resulted of their shoulders pressed against each other while Kuroo didn’t move at all from his previous photos. Anka blushed seeing how the positions make it seems like her and Kenma are a couple with their shoulders touching and his head slightly leaned towards her. “Anka, are you happy with the pictures?” Kenma asked, once again while leaning slightly towards the girl so he could get a better view of the photos. Anka’s eyes widened slightly. “Um yeah. Thank you, Kenma,” She said.</p>
<p>Kenma raised his gaze from the screen towards Anka, he stares at her for a second before going back to his previous position and continued his games. “No problem.”</p>
<p>“Ehem, Anka, where’s the thank you for me?” Kuroo’s voice caught her attention. <em>Oh yeah, Kuroo. </em>Anka turned towards the black haired boy only to find a teasing grin on his face. Trying to hide her blush, the girl sighes before smiling at him. “Of course. Thank you, Kuroo,” She said.</p>
<p>After the train ride, it still takes a five-minute walk from the train station to the restaurant. “Yaku texted me, he said that the members have arrived,” Kuroo said. He pushed the door open then step aside to let Anka and Kenma enter first. “Oh you guys are here,” Anka turned around to see Yaku standing behind her. He smiled. “Let’s go! Everyone has been waiting for you guys.” Kenma, Kuroo and Anka followed Yaku towards their table.</p>
<p>“Anka-san! You’re here! I’ve saved a seat for you!” Lev said excitedly. Anka shots him a grateful smile. “Thank you!”</p>
<p>Since her seat is in the middle between Lev and Yamamoto and their table is in the corner of the room, Yamamoto makes way for Anka so she could take a sit. Before Yamamoto could enter again though, he felt a hand pulling his collar. He turned around to see Kuroo’s grinning face. “Kenma, you go in first,” Kuroo said. Kenma, whose attention is still on his screen (“<em>One more level</em>”), walked towards the seat beside Anka without raising his gaze. He hissed when his hips bumped the desk a few times before finally taking his seat.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kuroo sits beside Kenma and only grins to an annoyed Yamamoto. “I’m so sorry, Yamamoto. But I have an agenda to fulfill,” He said. Yamamoto squints his eyes. “What <em>agenda</em>?” Kuroo ignored him and instead focused on reading the menu. Not long after that, the waitress arrived with the yakiniku package that Kai had ordered for the group. “Kenma, what will you order for drink?” Kuroo asked. Kenma, too immersed in his game, said nothing. Kuroo turned towards his friend. “Kenma, the food have arrived.” That also received no answer from the shorter male.</p>
<p>Kuroo narrows his eyes. “<em>Kenma,</em>” Kuroo said in a threatening tone. “Put down your PSP,” Kenma huffed. “One more level, Kuroo.”</p>
<p>“No.” Kuroo took the PSP out of Kenma said. “You need to eat. If I don’t do this, you’ll just play your games until lunch ends,” Kuroo said.</p>
<p>Kenma sighes. <em>Well at least he has the decency to save my game first</em>, He thought as he watches Kuroo saved his current level before putting it in his pocket. Kenma reads the menu in front of him for a second before telling the waitress his order. Then, he looks around to see that Anka and Yaku had started grilling the meat. Loud chatterings can be heard from the conversations happening between the members. Inuoka, Yuki and Teshiro are talking with Yamamoto and Fukunaga. Kuroo are talking with Kai while Anka and Yaku are busy grilling the meat. However, Lev is talking excitedly to Anka who still managed to smile and give short replies to Lev’s words. Kenma frowns. <em>She’s gonna burn herself if her attention is divided like that. </em></p>
<p>“Lev, stop talking,” Kenma said. Lev frowns at the upperclassmen while Anka only glances to him for a second before she continues grilling the meat. “Why?”</p>
<p>“Anka could get burn if you don’t stop talking, she needs to concentrate,” Kenma said. Anka, who had been listening, stopped turning over the meat to look at Kenma with a grin. “Thank you for caring, Kenma. But I’m okay,” Anka said. Kenma hums as he tears his gaze from the girl. “Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry, Anka-san!” Lev said. Unfortunately, for Kenma, Lev had started a conversation with him. Although the conversation is more one-sided since Lev is the one doing the talking while Kenma silently listening to him.</p>
<p>“The meats are done,” Yaku’s voice caught the attention of all members. Kenma sighes gratefully.</p>
<p>He waits as the members excitedly takes the meats towards their plates, Yamamoto almost started a fight with Fukunaga over the meat. It is only when Kuroo stares at him and the members have started eating that Kenma takes a few meats towards his plate. “Oh wow, it’s delicious. Thank you for grilling the meat, Anka-san, Yaku-san!” Lev complimented. Anka only grins at him while she ruffles his hair. Lev blushes, the boy then continued eating with a lot more fervor.</p>
<p>“Anka-san, thank you for grilling the meat!” Yamamoto suddenly piped up from his seat beside Kuroo.</p>
<p>“Oy, you’re not thanking me?” Yaku protests. Kuroo grins. “Do you expect Anka to ruffle your hair too? You don’t even have a lot of hair,” Kuroo teases.</p>
<p>“I may not have a lot of hair but at least my hairstyle is <em>cool </em>unlike <em>yours</em>, Rooster-head,” Yamamoto said. Kuroo narrows his eyes at the younger boy. And then, both of them started bickering until Yaku scolded them. Anka laughs looking at their bickering and also Yamamoto’s pout when Yaku scolded him, it reminds her of a child getting scolded by his mother. <em>Well Yaku </em>is <em>the mother figure in the team</em>, Anka shrugs.</p>
<p>Anka turned towards her left to see Kenma had stopped eating and is now currently drinking his iced tea. “Kenma, are you done?” She asked. Kenma nods. “I think it’s gonna take awhile until everyone finishes, why don’t you just play your PSP?” Kenma shakes his head before he sighes. “Kuroo took my PSP,” He said. He had asked Kuroo to give him back his PSP but the boy refused (“<em>Eat your vegetables, Kenma”, Kenma’s only response was a glare</em>), he had contemplated to take it forcefully but he worried it’ll caught people attention. So he decided to just sulks in peace. Anka chuckles. “I’ll see what I can do,” She said. Kenma looks at her, confused. But the girl said nothing and instead focusing on her meat.</p>
<p>After Anka finished eating, she excused herself to the bathroom. Kuroo, Kenma and Yamamoto had to get out of their seats so she could make her way to the bathroom. “Sorry,” She sheepishly grins as she passes them. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Anka to come back. After she returns to her seat, the three boys sit themselves back down. While Kenma is making himself comfortable in his seat, he feels a weight on his lap. His eyes widened to see his PSP on his lap. He turned towards Anka who had continued talking with Lev.</p>
<p>Feeling his gaze on her, Anka turned towards Kenma. “Thank you,” Kenma said. Anka grins. “Shhh,” She said playfully as she steals a glance towards Kuroo. Kenma couldn’t help but chuckles seeing her playful attitude before he turned on his PSP to continue his games. While he continued his saved games, Anka had stopped talking with Lev and she’s now leaning towards him slightly while watching Kenma plays.</p>
<p>Kuroo, who actually realizes when Anka takes the PSP from his pocket, tried to hide his grin as he watches his friends getting comfortable with each other.</p>
<p>After they finished lunch, the team decided to eat ice cream at a nearby ice cream joint. Since it’s only a five-minutes walk to the ice cream joint, they decided to walk together. Kenma walks behind the rest of the group since he is focusing on his game and doesn’t want to slow the team. In the midst of playing, he could see Anka from the corner of his eye who had slow down her walk so she would walk side by side with Anka. They both walk in silence for a while until Kenma speaks up. “Thank you for taking my PSP back,” He said.</p>
<p>Anka grins. “No problem. I could see you were bored and you had finished your lunch so I don’t see why you couldn’t play your game,” She said.</p>
<p>“By the way, does your offer to play games together still up?” Anka asked. Kenma glances towards the girl. “Of course. Is there any game that you want to play together?”</p>
<p>Anka went silent for a second, seemingly in thought. “Not that I could think of right now. And with the practice match coming up I feel like it’d be a busy week. But,” She turned towards him with a smile. “Do you mind if we exchange numbers? So I could contact you easily if I have some free time and want to play something,” She said. “I know that Minki has your phone number but I think it’s better to ask you in person.”</p>
<p>“Sure,” Kenma said. The boy pulled out his phone from his hoodie’s pocket before giving it to Anka. “Thank you,” She said.</p>
<p>After a while, Anka gives him back his phone. Kenma paused his game for a while to take a look at his screen. Kenma couldn’t help but smile when he sees the cat and the smiling emoji. “I also texted myself so I would have your number, if you don’t mind,” She said. Kenma shakes his head.</p>
<p>“Yay! Here we are!” Lev’s excited voice caught both of their attention. Apparently, they have arrived to their destination. Anka and Kenma were the lasts to enter. The pudding-haired boy puts his PSP back into his hoodie pocket before pushing the door open then steps aside to let Anka enters first. “Thank you, Kenma,” She said which Kenma only replied with a nod. They both stand in the queue behind Fukunaga. “Kenma, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?” Anka asked with her eyes trained towards the menu. “Chocolate. You?” Kenma replied. “Strawberry.”</p>
<p>“You really like pink, huh?” Kenma asked. He remembers that although her schoolbag is navy blue she does have pink keychains, pink pencil case, and pink notebook with a cover she had sketched herself. Anka looked at him with a grin on her face. “Yeah, I do.”</p>
<p>It was finally Anka’s turn to order. After she ordered, she step aside as she waits for Kenma. Then they walked towards the table where their team had sat. Kenma sits next to Kuroo while Anka sits next to him. Almost as soon as they sit down, Anka initiated a conversation with the members while also making sure to include Kenma in their conversation. It was not later until he and Kuroo said goodbye to Anka that he realized he hadn’t played his PSP at all and instead he had talked with Anka the whole way home.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“A practice match in Miyagi?” Hanare asked. Anka only answered with a hum as she leaned back, her mouth busy chewing the fried chicken that they had ordered. The ‘Naruto Shippuden’ series that they were watching has long been forgotten. Although Anka made sure that they paused at a scene where the camera focused on Kakashi so she could take a look appreciatively once in a while towards the screen. Hanare only reaction to her friend’s antics is a sigh.</p>
<p>“Yeah. And I think I’m gonna be busy next week since I have to help Coach with booking a place to stay, the transportation, you know,” Anka said.</p>
<p>Hanare huffed. Anka stopped her chewing to look at her friend with a frown. “’Nare, what’s wrong?” She asked, worried.</p>
<p>Hanare shrugs as she looks down. “It’s nothing, I just feel like we haven’t been spending time together lately,” She said.</p>
<p>“But we do spend time together. At school and now at my home,” Anka said, confused. “Yeah but, it feels different,” Hanare said. “You have your new friends and you’re busy with your manager stuff,” She mumbled.</p>
<p>“But you also have your student council activities,” Anka said. “If I didn’t join the volleyball team, then you’re still gonna be busy with student council. It’ll be the same thing,” She continued. “No, it’s not,” Hanare frowned. “If you didn’t join any club then I’m not gonna join any club too, then we’ll have more time together. You know, like our first year together.”</p>
<p>Anka sighs. “But Hanare, don’t you think joining a club is important? I mean we’ll be able to experience new things and also meet new friends.”</p>
<p>Hanare looked at Anka for a second. “I don’t need any other friends,” She said. “I only need you. I mean, it was only the two of us for the whole year and it was great you know.”</p>
<p> “We also have Kazuki,” Anka frowns. “Oh yeah. But still, it was mainly the two of us and I was happy with that,” Hanare said.</p>
<p>Hanare sighs as she looked at Anka nervously. “I just feel like we’re drifting away,” She said. Anka frowns. “Hanare, it’s only been a week,” Anka said, confused. “You’ll be fine. And you do realize that it’s not like things are gonna stay the same forever, right? As you said, it was mainly the two of us which is why I think it’s also good for us to meet new friends. But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop being friends,” She continued.</p>
<p>The room’s atmosphere had grown tense and Anka doesn’t like it. This was supposed to be the day where they would just relax. Hanare’s revelations had made the situation somewhat uncomfortable and Anka hates it. Anka also hates the sudden feeling of guilty that appeared in her chest. It feels like it is her fault that Hanare feels that way. <em>But no it’s not</em>, Anka thought. She does realize that they spend most of their time together since their first year. But Anka also wanted to meet new friends, and it’s not like she’ll stop being friends with Hanare. She just wants to experience new things outside of the bubble she had created with Hanare. She eats her lunch with Hanare, whenever there is a group project then Hanare would instantly asked her which makes her whole classmates hesitate to ask Anka, they would also hang out after school. As much as she loves Hanare, she does want to have new friends too. And there’s nothing wrong with that...<em> Right?</em></p>
<p>Hanare’s sigh caught Anka’s attention. “I’m sorry for ruining our day. We were supposed to relax together,” She said. “It’s just been a tiring week,” Hanare smiles weakly.</p>
<p>Anka quickly smiles at her friend. “No worries,” She said. “Okay then let’s change the topic,” Hanare said as she turned her position so she’s facing Anka. “I have something to tell you.” Anka copies Hanare’s position as she watched her friend curiously. “What is it?”</p>
<p> Anka gasps when a light blush appeared on Hanare’s cheeks. “So um... I have a crush on someone,” She said. “Who?” Anka asked excitedly. “Well I’m not ready to tell you who it is but she is in our year,” Hanare said. “Please tell me more about her! You don’t need to tell me who but just tell me about the girl who has managed to catch my Hanare’s heart.”</p>
<p>Hanare hums as she stares at Anka. “Well, first of all she’s really cute,” She started. And so, the rest of the afternoon was spend with Hanare talking about her crush.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As expected, the next week turned out to be a busy week for Anka. She was busy preparing for the upcoming practice match with Karasuno. The girl volunteered to handle things such as their lodgings, transportations and food so Coach Naoi and Nekomata-sensei could focus more on training the team. Due to her busyness, she had barely talk with Hanare aside from their occasional messages. Although that too were not as often as they used too since, unfortunately, Anka couldn’t reply to her friend’s texts right away since most of her free time were used to search lodgings and transportations that would fit their budget and also catching up on school work. As far as Anka knows, Hanare is also swamped with student council’s stuff since the green-haired girl barely spend her break time with Anka too. Unfortunately, Kazuki is also busy practicing with his basketball team since apparently they would also have their own practice matches soon.</p><p>Still, beside her free time decreasing, the whole week were not that bad. Anka was happy since she got closer to Kenma ever since she got his number.</p><p>They also got to play a game together with Minki too although not for a long time. Since it was Anka’s first time playing the game, Kenma was helpful by guiding her through things and fortunately Anka was quick to understand. Unlike Kenma, Minki spent his times messing with his sister. The three of them were playing as a team but because Anka accidentally shot Minki, which doesn’t affect anything since they were a team, her little brother had spent the next five minutes shooting at Anka which led to them arguing until Kenma’s quiet and calm voice stop them. Anka was thankful that Kenma was patient enough to handle the both of them which she understood remembering how loud the team could be.</p><p>Through playing together Anka found out that Kenma used the name ‘applepi’ for all his games accounts. Anka remembered giggling seeing his username. “What is it?” Kenma asked. “Your username is adorable,” She said. Kenma’s cheeks went red at her comments although he didn’t say anything after that but instead changed the topic. “Do you want to start now?”</p><p>Ever since they exchanged phone numbers, text messages have become a daily occurrence for both of them. At first, it was Anka who initiated the conversation with inviting him to play together and then talking about the upcoming practice match. But then, after Kenma had grown more comfortable with texting, he started to send Anka random texts mostly talking about games. Sometimes, he would also text Anka some encouraging message or simply asking “Are you okay?” whenever the girl seems down. Anka never realized how observant the boy is until he started texting her those kind of message which she appreciated. And also somehow makes her heart beats faster, although Anka tends to ignore that.</p><p>The rest of the week were spend with Anka finalizing the preparations for the upcoming practice match. She had found a comfortable lodging with a reasonable price, she had booked train tickets for the team and also a bus for their transportation during their stay in Miyagi, and also made arrangements for their meal during their stay (which just consist of Anka cooking for the team since after doing some calculation, cooking by herself is cheaper than paying extra for a meal prepared by the lodging). The lodging she had booked was actually a small villa since Anka and Coach Naoi had agreed that renting a small villa for themselves would be more comfortable remembering the number of people they have.</p><p>The team will depart to Miyagi on Thursday and stay there for approximately three nights. Since today is Monday, it means that it is their last practice before the upcoming practice match. “Before a practice match with Karasuno, we will have a practice match tomorrow with Tsukinokizawa High. Since we’ll depart early, practice is enough for today. Go home and have enough rest,” Coach Naoi said. “I expect all of you to go straight home after this. No extra practice for tonight,” Nekomata-sensei said, his eyes trained towards Kuroo. The captain only grins sheepishly at his coach.</p><p>After Coach Naoi and Nekomata-sensei left the gym, the members and Anka started cleaning up the gym.</p><p>“I’m still upset that I’m not going to Miyagi with all of you,” Kenma rolled his eyes when he heard Lev complaining to Anka. Coach Naoi and Nekomata-sensei had decided that Lev would not be joining the team’s practice matches in Miyagi. Since Lev had only started playing volleyball in high school, his skill is still on an amateur level and still behind the rest of the members. Remembering that it will be their first practice match in years with their long-time rival, Karasuno High, Coach Naoi and Nekomata-sensei had agreed that it is not the right time for Lev to play with the team yet.</p><p>Anka feels sorry for the boy since she could see how his expression instantly become sad after Coach Naoi had talked to him. “Well this won’t be our only practice camp this year and you can join the team on the future practice camp,” Anka said. She gives him a comforting smile. “You’ve developed in your skills since the first time I met you and I’m sure it won’t be long until you can play with the team,” She continued. “And you know you’re actually lucky since you can rest while the rest of us are stuck with matches and practices in Miyagi,” Anka huffed.</p><p>Lev grins. “You’re right! And I could practice by myself for the whole weekend,” He said.</p><p>Anka smiles at him. “There you go!” She said. “By the way, Anka-san, I hope you’ll have a lot of fun but please don’t forget me okay?” Lev said which only earned a laugh from Anka. “Of course! How could I forget my adorable junior!” Anka said with a grin as she ruffles his hair. Although due to Lev’s ridiculously tall height, Anka had to stand on her tiptoes. Lev’s cheeks had gone red as he grins.</p><p>Lev had just opened his mouth to say something only to be cut off by a voice. “Anka,” Anka turned around to see Kenma standing quietly. His bag already on his shoulder. “Are you ready?” Anka looked around to see that the gym had been cleaned up and now, slowly, the members are leaving the gym. Anka grins at Kenma. “Yes! Let me get my bag real quick!” Anka runs toward the bleacher where she had put her bag before approaching Kenma. “See you next week, Lev!” Anka waved towards Lev before walking alongside Kenma who stands quietly while waiting for Anka. “See you next week, Anka-san, Kenma-san!” Lev said excitedly.</p><p>***</p><p>The next day, Anka wakes up early since their train departs at 7 am and they have decided to meet up at school at 6 am. After eating breakfast, she helps her mother packing up bento boxes for the team. Anka had decided to prepare bento for the team again since she worried they would miss breakfast due to the early time of their departure. Although at the end, it was Anka’s mother who prepared bento for the team despite Anka’s protests so Anka could get enough rest. Her brother, Minki, had also woke up early today even though there is no school since he will be dropping off Anka at school.</p><p>After she makes sure that she has everything she needs, Anka said goodbye to her parents before walking alongside her brother to the lamp post to meet Kuroo and Kenma. The two boys have arrived at the lamp post as usual. The four of them immediately started walking towards the school after saying their greetings towards each other.</p><p>“Have you guys checked your stuff? Make sure that you don’t miss anything. We’ll be staying for three nights so I hope you have everything you need,” Anka said.</p><p>“Yes, Anka,” Kenma said. He raised his gaze from his PSP’s screen to frown at the girl. “Don’t worry too much.”</p><p>Anka grins. “I’m sorry. It’s just this is my first practice camp with you guys so I want everything to go smoothly.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Anka. Just enjoy the trip, okay? Maybe Karasuno have a female manager and you could befriend her,” Kuroo said as he ruffles her hair. “By the way,” Kuroo glances towards the paper bag that Anka and Minki are holding, “Did you prepare something for us again?” He asked. Anka nods. “Yeah, my mom prepared bento for everyone. I didn’t participate in cooking for this one since my mom didn’t let me,” She said. Kuroo grins. “You’re the best manager <em>ever</em>. Say thank you to your mom for me too.”</p><p>After that, they continued walking in silence with only the sound from Kenma’s PSP and also the song Minki’s playing slightly leaks from his earphone filling the air.</p><p>It doesn’t take long for them to arrive at the school. They immediately go to the gym where they have agreed to meet to find that most of the team members have arrived. Minki dropped her off and the paper bag containing the bento at the gym before saying goodbye and going home. After everyone arrived, the team make their way towards the train station. This time, Kuroo helped her in bringing one paper bag while Yamamoto brings the other.</p><p>All the way to the train station, Anka couldn’t hide her excitement which is shown by the little bounce in each step she takes. Her right hand playing with the strap of the first aid bag. Kenma tried to hold back his smile while watching the girl walking beside her. He just shakes his head before trying to focus on his game again.</p><p>The train ride from Tokyo to Miyagi takes almost three hours. Kenma decided to sit next to Anka since Kuroo sits with Kai, probably to talk about strategies and other things relating to the upcoming practice matches. The other members are eating the bento that Anka have given to each member and also the coaches. Meanwhile, the girl herself is sleeping with her earphones stuck in her ear. Kenma frowns as he glances towards the brunette, slightly worried that her neck would hurt.</p><p>Kenma paused his game before he slightly pushes the girl so she would leans against the window. But unfortunately, his plan backfired. Instead of leaning agains the window, somehow the girl squirms in her seat while mumbling something unintelligible before leaning her head on Kenma’s shoulder resulting in his whole body tensed up. Kenma fumbles with his PSP for a few seconds, not sure what to do. His mind going into overdrive while he ponders whether he should push the girl again towards the window or just let it be. <em>But what if she wakes up only to see me pushing her? She would get the wrong idea</em>. Knowing the girl, Kenma knows that Anka would thought that Kenma is uncomfortable with her.</p><p>Kenma huffed before finally making himself comfortable in his seat. <em>I guess I’ll just let her be</em>, He thought before continuing his game.</p><p>He continues playing until his eyes grow heavy and finally, he decided to saved his game before leaning back on his seat to get some sleep. As he lets himself go into the dreamland, his head unintentionally leans on Anka’s head which is resting on his shoulder.</p><p>Meanwhile Kuroo, who had stopped talking with Kai since the latter has decided to get some sleep before arriving in Miyagi, looked around the train to see that most of his members are sleeping. When the sight of Anka and Kenma sleeping while leaning against each other caught his eye, a mischievous grin grows on his face. The black haired boy takes out his phone and open his camera app before taking a few pictures of them. Kuroo smiles with satisfaction as he scrolls through the results.</p><p>After he is satisfied with the pictures, he puts back his phone into his pocket before leaning back against his seat and closing his eyes.</p><p>***</p><p><em>Anka looked around in slight confusion. </em>Where am I? <em>She thought. Glancing around the rooftop, she frowns seeing the romantic setting around her. A table in the middle complete with a candlelight and the fairylights hanging around the fence surrounding the rooftop. She glances upwards and frowns at the night sky where the stars are twinkling brightly. </em>Straight out of a cheesy romantic movie, <em>She thought. The girl huffed when she looks down to see a pink dress on her body. </em>At least the dress is cute<em>. </em></p><p>
  <em>"Anka?”</em>
</p><p>That voice... It’s familiar. <em>The brunette turned around. The first thing she notices is the flower. She draws a breath sharply at the sight of a boy standing in front of her with a bouquet of red roses in his hand. The boy is wearing a white suit with black shirt. Her eyes glances upwards and at the sight of the face in front of her. She froze. Kenma. </em>Kozume freaking Kenma is standing in front of her wearing a suit<em>. Anka screams inwardly. </em></p><p>
  <em>Meanwhile, oblivious to her inner turmoul, the golden-eyed boy frowns at Anka. “Anka, are you alright?” He asked, worried.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The boy takes a step forward. Anka, panicking, immediately takes a step backward. Kenma’s frown grows deeper. “An, is there something wrong?” He asked again. Anka blinks a few times before forcing herself to speak. “Oh, um, hi, Kenma,” She said, bringing up one hand to waves at him weakly. “What are you doing here?” The boy’s frown grows even deeper than Anka thought is possible. “What do you mean? It’s our first anniversary,” He said.</em>
</p><p>Anniv-wait. <em>“Anniversary?” The word slipped her mouth in a squeaky voice which makes her grimaces. </em></p><p>
  <em>"Yes, our anniversary. First year anniversary. Anka, are you sure you’re okay?” Kenma asked as he takes Anka’s hand to pulls her closer and also reducing the distance between them. Anka’s heart beats faster. “Um, yeah. I’m okay. I was just... pranking you?” She said but instead, unlike her intention, the words come out as a question. Kenma still looks at her worriedly which makes Anka grows nervous. She glances towards the bouquet. “Um, is that for me?” She asked. Kenma looks down. “Oh, yeah.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The pudding-haired boy brings up the bouquet towards her. “Happy anniversary, Anka,” He said softly. </em>
</p><p><em>Anka could feel her cheeks growing warm seeing the soft smile on the boy’s face. Anka brings up the bouquet towards her nose. She had decided to go with the flow instead question what the hell is going on. </em>Well, even if it is a dream, I might as well enjoy it, <em>Anka said. “Happy anniversary, Kenma,” She said. Anka swears she could hear Kenma chuckles but she doesn’t have time to find out the truth because the boy grasps her wrist softly as he pulls her closer. </em></p><p>
  <em>Anka looks up at the boy. “I love you, Anka,” Anka’s eyes widened as Kenma pulls her closer, slowly closing the distance between them. She inhales sharply before slightly leaning forward while closing her eyes. “Anka...”</em>
</p><p>“Anka...” Anka slowly opens her eyes. Her blue eyes widened as she sees Kenma’s golden eyes staring at her and the close proximity between them.</p><p>The brunette squeaked as she jumped on her seat resulting in Kenma pulling himself away from her due to surprise. They both stare at each other for a second.</p><p>“Hey, are you guys alright?” Kuroo’s voice caught her attention. She glances towards the black-haired boy standing behind Kenma, a frown on his face. “I’m not sure,” Kenma said. Kenma stares at Anka, a worried expression etched on his face. “Anka, are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?” Kenma asked.</p><p>Anka blinks when she realizes the two boys are staring at her. “Um, kinda? But I’m okay,” She said before the girl quickly shouldered her bag and stand up before walking hastily past Kenma and Kuroo, trying to ignore the boys’ stares. Anka stopped at the doorway of the train. They were the last person on the train’s coach, the rest of the team have already gathered outside of the train. She looks back at the two boys who are still staring at her. “Are you guys coming or not?” The two boys immediately makes their way towards the door.</p><p>Anka jumped from the train with a sigh before walking towards where their team have gathered. Her face is calm, at least that’s what she hoped, while her mind has gone into overdrive. <em>Holy shit, did I seriously just dream of Kozume Kenma?</em></p><p>
  <em>***</em>
</p><p>Anka sighs as she feels the wind blows through her hair. It was a perfect decision to go on foot instead of by bus, living in the city for years have made her forgot the fresh air and the peace of living on the countryside. She looks around. There are more trees in Miyagi than it is in Tokyo, there are also less number of transportation which makes the environment more peaceful, and also the air is fresher here too. Anka looks up at the sky. The sky seems clearer here too. <em>Then I bet you can see the stars clearer her too at night, </em>She thought happily. The girl already make up a plan to go take a walk at night to see at the stars.</p><p>But then a memory come rushing in. <em>Stars, rooftop,  a bouquet of roses, candles</em>. Anka shrieks as she remembers the sight of Kenma in his suit.</p><p>“Anka, are you okay?” Anka turns her head towards Fukunaga. She gives a comforting smile at him, or at least that’s what she hoped it looks like. “I’m okay. I just thought I saw something in the bushes and I got surprised, but it was just the wind,” She said. Fortunately, Fukunaga nods at that.</p><p>Anka let out a sigh as she distracts herself by looking around once again. <em>Why did I have to dream of him? </em>She tought. It’s not that she dislikes Kenma, because she does like Kenma. Possibly more than she should like a friend. She enjoys every moment they spend together. Even though it was awkward at first with his quiet personality and Anka panicking trying to make him feel comfortable, but they had grown closer as time passed by. There was no awkward moments anymore and instead only comfortable silence between them. It’s also not awkward for them to talk through text anymore, Kenma had seemingly grow comfortable with her shown by how he would text longer as they text more. He would also send her something about a game and asks her opinion about it. She likes being with him.</p><p>The doubt about how does she exactly like Kenma didn’t appear until the outing last week. It was hard to ignore the fast beating of her heart and also her nervousness around Kenma, unlike the usual. It was more apparent to her when they were talking on their way to the ice cream joint and during their time there. She had subconsciously observes every little detail about Kenma during their time together, as if she tried to take a perfect picture in her mind. The way his eyes brighten when they were talking about games or how he notices every little thing about his teammates, even though his outward self seems apathetic. She also focused on everything Kenma said to the point she unknowingly ignored the rest of the members, only responding with a laugh when Lev said something to her (<em>What did he even talk about?</em>).</p><p>But unfortunately, it seems another person had caught onto Anka’s unusual attention towards Kenma. Kuroo. Anka caught his gaze and his teasing grin once and she decided not to look at him again for the rest of their time at the ice cream joint. Kuroo’s expression made it seems like he knows something that she doesn’t know. <em>And she doesn’t like it</em>. She doesn’t like it because she’s not even sure about her own feelings. She doesn’t like it because even if she <em>does </em>like him, it’s not like he would reciprocates her feelings. It’s not her first time having a crush on someone, but the last time she had a crush on a boy he was more obvious with his feelings towards Anka which makes it easier for her.</p><p>But Kenma is not like that. He is more reserved with his feelings and he doesn’t seems like he would give a thought on anything other than his games.</p><p>Anka sighs. <em>And I just </em>had <em>to dream about him. I could’ve dream about Kakashi but no, I dreamed about Kozume freaking Kenma instead</em>, She thought. That dream and also her unclear feelings had made her panicked and so she did the most rational thing or so she thought, she avoided him. She ignored his frown and instead made herself busy by talking with Fukunaga, trying to distract herself from her dream and her feelings. Although she kinda regrets it now. Anka lets out another sigh. <em>Why am I so stupid?</em></p><p>The familiar sound effects from Kenma’s game had brought her out of her reverie. Anka looks up, only to realize that during her inner turmoil she had walked slower than the members and is now walking alone behind the rest of the members. Well not exactly alone since Kenma is apparently walking behind her.</p><p>Deciding to distract herself, she decided to do a head count of the members walking in front of her. <em>Eight members ahead of me and ten including me and Kenma.</em></p><p><em>Wait..</em>. Anka stopped on her tracks. <em>Something is missing. </em>Anka looks around, there’s no sounds other than the footsteps of the members. Anka frowns before a realization struck her. <em>She no longer hears the sound effects from Kenma’s game</em>. The brunette turned around quickly. Empty. There is no one behind her. Anka looks towards the members again, doing a quick head-count to make sure whether Kenma had walked ahead of her somehow or not. <em>Eight and nine including me. </em></p><p>Panicked, Anka runs towards the road they had walked. She stopped when she could hear the familiar sounds again. She’s at an intersection. The brunette turned her head only to see Kenma walking alone, still engrossed in his game. “Kenma!” She called out. Kenma stopped on his tracks as he finally looked up from his game. He frowns. “Kenma!” Kenma turned around to see Anka running towards him. “Anka, where are the others?” Kenma asked. “You got separated from the team,” Anka answered in between her breaths.</p><p>“Let’s go,” Anka wraps her hand around his wrist before pulling him into a run. “Wait, Anka. Not so fast,” He said but Anka ignored him.</p><p>Anka finally stopped when she got no sign of the team. Anka huffed as she takes out her phone. Meanwhile, Kenma is breathing heavily behind her. After his breath returns to normal, Kenma looks up at the girl. A sudden guilt wrapped around him when he sees the frown on her face. “You idiot,” Anka grumbles. Kenma frowns. “Anka, I’m sorry,” He said. The brunette looked up at him confused before realization dawned on her. “No no no, I was saying it to myself. Not to you,” She said. “I forgot my power bank at my room and my phone’s battery is dead and now I can’t text Kuroo,” She mumbles.</p><p>“I’ll text him,” Kenma said, pulling out his phone after pausing his game. “Thank you, Kenma,” She said happily.</p><p>Kenma send a quick text to Kuroo. A reply come not long after. Kenma frowns. His friend only replied with a laughing emoji and also a thumbs up emoji. <em>Annoying Kuroo, </em>Kenma huffed. He looked up at the girl who is now looking around. “Kenma, let’s wait there!” She points towards a fence. He nodded before following her towards the fence.</p><p>They stand around in silence for a while. Kenma frowns. The silence feels awkward than the usual comfortable silence between them.</p><p>Kenma sneaks a glance towards Anka. The girl is looking around awkwardly, seemingly trying to avoid eye contact with him. “Anka,” He said. “What did I do?” Anka turned her head towards him, confused. “Huh?” was her only response. Kenma sighes. “You’ve been avoiding me since the train. Did I do something wrong?” He asked. A sudden guilt was apparent on her face. “I’m sorry, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just,” Anka bites her lips, trying to find a way to explain. “I just had a weird dream, that’s all,” She said. “I’m sorry for making you feel that way,” The girl finally meets him in the eyes again.</p><p>They stare at each other in silence before Kenma nods. “Okay,” He said. “Just,” He contemplates for a second. “Please don’t do that again, I was worried,” He said.</p><p>Anka nods. “I’m sorry for making you worry,” She mumbles. Kenma shakes his head, he opens his mouth to say something when he sees that something has distracted Anka. The pudding-haired boy frowns as he follows Anka’s gaze.</p><p><em>A stray cat, </em>He thought. <em>A stray cat caught Anka’s attention</em>. “Oh my God, hi,” The sound of Anka talking in a softer and cuter voice surprised him. He turned his head towards Anka to see that the girl had crouches down, one hand reaching out towards the cat. “Come here please.” The cat walks towards Anka which earned a happy gasp from her. When the cat is within her reach, Anka pats his head until the cat seems comfortable with Anka before taking the cat into her arms and making herself comfortable on the ground.</p><p>Kenma couldn’t help but smile as he looks at the sight of Anka patting the cat. <em>Cute. </em>Kenma inhales sharply, feeling surprised and kinda confused of his thought.</p><p>Kenma looks around to distract himself and decided to sit himself on the edge of the concrete underneath the fence. “Hey, Kenma,” He looks at the girl. His heart beats faster at the sight of her reddening cheeks, bright eyes and happy smile on her face. “Do you mind if I ask you to take a picture of me and the cat with your phone?” She asked. Kenma shakes his head before opening his camera app. Anka holds up the cat in her hands underneath her chin, a grin on her face. Kenma takes a few picture. After that, he scrolls through the results of the pictures. <em>Cute</em>. He thought again as he takes a look at Anka’s bright smile on the picture, her chin on top of the cat. His cheeks reddening after realizing what his thought was when he first looked at her picture. But although he feels kinda annoyed and confused by his own thought, he couldn’t take his eyes off of the picture.</p><p>“Um.. Kenma?” Kenma blinks a few times before focusing his gaze on Anka. <em>Damn did I just get caught? </em>He thought. “Does the pictures turn out good?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Kenma turned his phone so she could see the results. “Sorry, I was just making sure none of the pictures turned out bad.” <em>Yeah </em>of course<em>, that’s what you were doing</em>. Kenma grumbles. <em>Shut up</em>. Anka, oblivious to her inner turmoil, looks up at Kenma and smiles. “Thank you. Please send the pictures to me,” She said. Kenma nods before sending the pictures to her and putting the phone back in his pocket. Kenma reaches towards his bag and pulls out something before handing it to Anka. “Here, use mine,” Kenma said. Anka looks up from the cat to see a black power bank being handed towards her. “Are you sure?” Kenma nods. “We won’t be back until later, just use mine,” Anka grins. “Thank you!”</p><p>Kenma waits as Anka connects the power bank to her phone, thankfully they have the same type of phone so she could use his cable, and made sure that it is working properly before pulling out his PSP to continue his game. The two teenagers sit as they wait for Kuroo, only the sound effects from Kenma’s game and Anka cooing at the cat fills the air.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Anka and Kenma jumped at the sudden voice. They both looked towards the source of the sound to see an orange-haired boy jogging towards them.</p><p><em>He looks so... Bright</em>. Anka thought as she looks at his orange hair and bright smile. His hair reminds her of a tangerine. Anka holds back a grin.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kenma looked around awkwardly at the boy’s question. “Oh, well, erm..” He looked towards Anka, asking for help but the girl’s attention is on the boy. Precisely the boy’s hair. Kenma looks down. “We’re lost,” He finally said.</p><p>“You’re not from around here?” The orange-haired boy asked. Kenma nods with a hum before continue playing his game. “Is that fun?” The boy crouches down beside Kenma, looking excitedly at his screen. “Not really, I’m just killing time,” Kenma answered. “Ohhh..” The boy. Right at that moment, the stray cat Anka’s holding let out a mew catching the boy’s attention. The boy gasped. “Is that your cat?” He asked excitedly as he turned towards the brunette. “No,” Anka answered with a grin. “She’s a stray cat,” She continued. “She’s so adorable,” The boy said which earned an excited nod from Anka.</p><p>The boy stands up straight again before another thing catch his attention. He gasped. “You play volleyball?” He asked excitedly with wide eyes. Kenma looked at him surprised. The orang-haired boy points towards Kenma’s gym bag beside his feet. “Those are volleyball shoes!”           </p><p>“Well, yeah,” Kenma said quietly, sneaking a glance towards the boy. Anka looks between the boys, reminded of her first time meeting Kenma.</p><p><em>It’s been a while since I saw Kenma like that, </em>She thought as she looks at how Kenma sneaks glances towards the orange-haired boy awkwardly. Anka contemplates whether she should say something but decided to let Kenma himself talks to his new acquintance. “I’m in the volleyball club! My name’s Hinata Shoyo,” The orange-haired boy –Hinata– said.</p><p>“Kozume,” Kenma said without looking up. “Kozume... Is that your name?” Hinata asked. “Kozume,” Kenma looks up at the boy briefly before looking back down. “Kenma.”</p><p>“What about you?” Hinata turned towards Anka. Anka grins at him. “I’m Hirai Anka,” She said.</p><p>“Are you guys in high school?” Hinata asked as he looks at Anka and Kenma. “Yeah,” Anka said. “What year? I’m a first year,” Hinata holds up one finger, his smile never leaving his face. “Second-year,” Kenma said after looking briefly at Anka. At Kenma’s answer, Hinata immediately stands up straight. “You’re older than me,” He said, panicking. “Sorry!”</p><p>“It’s okay,” Kenma said before continue playing his games. “I don’t like the pecking order in sports,” He said. Hinata glances nervously towards Anka. “Don’t worry Hinata. I don’t mind too,” She said. </p><p>Hinata grins. “That’s fortunate,” He said before looking back at Kenma. “But you like volleyball?” Hinata asked. Kenma hums. “Not so much. It’s just something I do,” Kenma said. “I don’t dislike it, but I don’t like tiring myself out,” He continued. “My friend plays though. It would put him out if I didn’t play too.”</p><p>Hinata leans against the fence. “What about you, Hirai-san? Do you play volleyball?” He asked.</p><p>Anka tears her gaze away from the cat. “No, but I do like it enough to become the team’s manager,” She answered. Hinata’s eyes brightens. “You’re a manager? My team also have a female manager. She’s a third year and the most beautiful girl I’ve met,” He said excitedly. While Hinata had been talking, Anka caught the writing on his shirt. <em>Karasuno High School</em>. Anka blinks. <em>So he’s part of our long-time rival team huh? </em>She thought before focusing on the boy again. Although before Anka could respond, another question had popped up on the orange-haired boy’s head. “Are you guys dating?”</p><p>Anka inhales sharply while Kenma had missed a few attacks out of surprise. <em>Dating? </em>Kenma thought.</p><p>“No, we’re not!” Anka waves her hands around awkwardly earning a protest from the cat on her lap. “I’m the team’s manager,” She said, panicked. “So a team member and a manager aren’t allowed to date each other?” Hinata asked. “That’s not what I mean. There is no such rule,” Anka said before pausing. “Wait, Kenma,” She turned towards the boy. “Is there any rule like that?” She asked. Kenma looked around awkwardly. “I don’t think so, I don’t know,” He said before meeting her gaze. They both stare at each other with reddening cheeks before they tear their gaze away from each other instantly at the same time.</p><p>Hinata, realizing the awkward atmosphere he had created, bows his head in panick. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to,” He said.</p><p>“No worries,” Anka said, trying to lessen the reddening of her cheeks before finally looking back down at the cat and started petting the cat again.</p><p>Fortunately, Hinata seems reminded by something. “By the way,” He looks towards Kenma as he leans back against the fence again. “Volleyball is more fun if you learn to like it,” He said. Anka lets out a relieved sigh at the change of topic. “I don’t care,” Kenma’s answer caught her attention. “I’ll quit after high school,” He continued. “What position do you play?” Hinata asked. “Erm, setter,” Kenma answered.</p><p>“Wow!” Hinata turned his body slightly towards Kenma. “You’re different from our setter!” He said. “Our setter’s more...” He holds up both of his hands as he makes a scary expression, “...Like this”. <em>Well I feel like that’s just exaggerated</em>, Anka thought as she holds back a giggle at his funny expression. So far, her impression of the younger boy is cute and he obviously loves volleyball.</p><p>Kenma looks at the boy as he makes various expressions to describe his team’s setter, his game has been forgotten. “Anyway, I’m a middle blocker,” Hinata holds up his hands high into a blocking position as if to emphasize his position on his team. “I see,” Kenma said. Hinata brings his hands down as he looks at Kenma. “Do you think it’s strange?” He asked. “It’s a position tall guys normally play,” Hinata continued.</p><p>“I suppose,” Kenma said. “But who cares?” Kenma’s response seems to surprise Hinata. Meanwhile, Kenma unpaused his game and continue playing.</p><p>“People say the same to me at matches,” Kenma said. “’The setter is the most difficult position. What’s with him?’ They say. I’m not even that athletic.” Hinata lets out an interested ‘Oh’ as a response. “Is your school strong?” Hinata asked, once again crouching down slightly towards Kenma. “Hm... I don’t know. We used to be strong but then we grew weak,” Kenma said. He looks up at Anka who is still busy petting the stray cat. “But recently,” Kenma turned his head towards Hinata with a small smile on his face, but Anka sees something intense in his gaze. “I think we’re pretty strong.”</p><p>Hinata’s eyes widened at Kenma’s answer as he stares at Kenma, interested. “What’s your school?” Hinata asked without taking his wide eyes off of Kenma.</p><p><em>He’s not that observant is he, </em>Anka grimaces looking down at the bright red Nekoma jacket with the word ‘Nekoma’ on the back and training pants they both wear. But then again, their school name could be hidden by the backpacks they both wear.</p><p>“Kenma! Anka!” Kenma and Anka turned their heads towards the source to see Kuroo standing in a black shirt with his right hand holding his jacket. Kenma puts his phone into his pocket while Anka puts down the cat from her lap after petting the cat again a few times as a goodbye. “Kuroo,” Kenma said before standing up and picking up his gym bag. He waits as Anka cleans some dust off of her pants and picks up the first aid bag before approaching Kuroo. “Bye,” Kenma said. He stopped on his tracks slightly behind Kuroo while Kuroo takes the first aid bag from Anka’s hand. Kenma turned around. “See you again, Shoyo,” Kenma said with a wave. Anka turned around to wave at Hinata with a smile before she followed behind Kuroo with Kenma beside her.</p><p>“Don’t go off on your own,” Kuroo scolded Kenma. He had known that it was Kenma who was too engrossed in his game that he got separated from the group and Anka had to run after him. “I’m sorry,” Kenma said. “You don’t know this area. Take care,” Kuroo continued.</p><p>The three teenagers walk in silence until it was Kuroo who speaks up again. “So... What did you guys do while waiting for me?” He asked. That could be an innocent question if only Kuroo doesn’t have that teasing grin <em>or </em>wiggles his eyebrows at Kenma and Anka. Anka narrows her eyes at Kuroo, trying to stop her cheeks from reddening once again. “Shut up, Kuroo,” She said.</p><p>***</p><p>It doesn’t take long for them to reach Tsukinokizawa High. After showing Anka and Kenma towards the gym, Kuroo separated himself to go to the bathroom. Anka and Kenma walks in and quickly approaches their team. “Anka, Kenma!” Yaku greeted them. “We were worried,” He narrows his eyes at Kenma. “I know how much you love your game but please pay attention to your surrounding. It could be dangerous,” He scolded. “I’m sorry,” Kenma said. Yaku sighs. “Don’t mind. Why don’t you go change into your uniform?” Kenma nods before making his way to the boys’ changing room.</p><p>Meanwhile, Anka had started to organize her and the teams’ stuff. She takes out her notebook with cats and volleyballs on the cover that she had drawn herself, she uses the notebook specifically to write down notes relating the team, an observation of the team’s development and strategics, and their opponent. Anka also arranged the water bottles and also towels before making her way to the facets with the water bottles to fill them.</p><p>Due to the number of the water bottles, she had to go back and forth two times to fill all of the water bottles. When she comes back after her second round of filling up the water bottles, Kenma had changed into his jersey and right now is practicing his toss. Anka smiles when Kenma caught her eyes briefly as she makes her way back to the bench. Her smiles froze when something caught her attention.</p><p>“Hey, isn’t their setter a little bit short?” Anka stopped on her tracks.</p><p>“And he’s a bit skinny, too.” Anka frowns.</p><p>“He must be a substitute.” Anka narrows her eyes. <em>Did they just </em>underestimate <em>Kenma? </em></p><p>“I’ve never heard of the school.” At this point, Anka had an annoyed expression on her face listening to the Tsukinokizawa’s volleyball players underestimating her team. The blue-eyed girl turned on her feet towards the member to give them a piece of her mind before a voice caught her attention.</p><p>“The skinny, short guy you speak of,” Anka turned her heads towards Kuroo who is standing at the doorway with his hands holding the door, an intimidating expression on his face. The three Tsukinokizawa’s volleyball players who talked as they sit in front of the doorway turned their head in surprise. “Is the backbone, brain, and heart of the Nekoma team,” Kuroo said. The three playes froze as they stare at Kuroo. Meanwhile, Kuroo walks past them towards Anka who is still staring at him, with water bottles in her arms.</p><p>“Hey manager,” Kuroo wraps his arms around Anka as he pushes her to walk with him. “Don’t listen to them.” Kuroo turned his head towards Anka, a determined look and his usual grin on his face. “We’ll show them who Nekoma really is,” He said. Anka grins up at Kuroo. “You better keep your word, Captain.”</p><p><em>This practice match would be fun</em>.</p><p>           </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>They won. </em>Anka smiles in satisfaction as she looks at the score board. 25-13. The Nekoma team won against Tsukinokizawa High for the whole three matches which ensures their victory for today’s practice matches. When the boys shake hands with the opponent team, Anka has to hold back a laugh when she sees the satisfied smug smile on Kuroo’s face. While Coach Naoi and Coach Nekomata are shaking hands and having a small talk with Tsukinokizawa’s coaches, Anka started to pack up her stuff. When she stands up straight while shouldering the first aid bag (Fortunately, none of the boys got injured during the practice matches), she accidentally made eye contact with the three players who underestimate Kenma because of his physical appearance. Anka sends them a smug smile, making the three boys froze before quickly walking away.</p>
<p>“Anka, stop looking at them like that,” Anka jumped a little when Kenma’s voice was heard from behind her.</p>
<p>The brunette turned around to see the pudding-haired boy looking at her with a disapproving gaze. Anka grins. “I’m sorry,” She said. “What did they even do?” He asked as he glances towards the poor three players. Anka’s grin instantly changed into a frown. “They <em>underestimated </em>you,” She said as she narrows her eyes at them. Kenma frowns when the three players seem to froze once again, as if feeling her gaze on them. Kenma sighes as he shakes his head. “It’s okay, An,” He turned his head towards her. “I don’t care.”</p>
<p>Anka smiles innocently. “Yeah but that doesn’t mean that I should not care about them too,” She said. Kenma only shakes his head as a response.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Kenma raised his eyebrow at the girl. “Did you just call me ‘An’?” She asked teasingly. Kenma blinks a few times as he feels his cheeks are getting hot. “You misheard it,” He mumbles as he tears his gaze away from the girl. Anka laughes. “No,” She said. “By the way,” Kenma looked back at her. “It’s okay. I like that. You can call me ‘An’ if you like,” She said with a grin. <em>Shit, </em>Kenma started panicking as he feels his cheeks getting hotter again. He let out a huff before instead turning his attention to the bags on the bench. “Let me help you,” Kenma said as he takes one of the bag. <em>He takes the lightest bag, </em>She thought with a grin. “Thank you,” She said.</p>
<p>Inuoka and Yamamoto ended up helping bringing the other bags to their bus. Meanwhile, Anka walked with Kenma to the bus. She sits beside him on the way to the lodging.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Anka covers her mouth with her hand as she yawns. After locking her room’s door, she puts the key into her pocket before pulling at her pink sweater’s sleeves to cover her hands. She just finished taking a bath after dinner. <em>Cooking for a large number of people sure is tiring</em>, She thought with a huff. But she enjoys cooking for the team especially seeing their happy reactions and gratitude towards her. Anka was also thankful that Kuroo had instructed the members to clean after themselves to alleviate her chores so she could focus on cleaning the kitchen, with the help of Inuoka who volunteered.</p>
<p>While drying her hair, the twinkling stars on the night sky had caught her attention since she had opened the window to let the night air in. So Anka immediately decided to go to the nearest convenience store to buy some snacks while taking a walk and enjoy the night scenery. Now Anka is making her way downstairs past the boys’ room after getting the approval from Coach Naoi. While passing the boys’ room, she could hear the sound laughter and conversations from inside the room which makes her grateful to get her own room since she’s the only female on the team. Even though she loves spending time with the team, Anka needs her privacy too.</p>
<p>The lodging they’re staying is a two-story house with four room on the second floor while the second floor consists of a dining room and a living room with sofas and a vending machine. When Anka stepped into the living room where the door to outside is located, a familiar two-toned hair color caught her eyes. “Kenma?” The boy turned his head towards the girl. “Oh, Anka,” He said before returning his gaze to the vending machine in front of him. Anka giggles seeing a frown on his face while he’s contemplating on which drink to buy.</p>
<p>“Hey, I’m actually going to the convenience store. Do you want to come with me?” Anka asked. Kenma looked at her in silence for a second before nodding his head.</p>
<p>The two teenagers walk side by side in silence to the convenience store while enjoying the scenery of the country side. Anka looks up at the night sky in wonder. The stars seems to shine brighter here in the country side than it is in the city. She closes her eyes as she feels the wind blowing through her hair. Too engrossed in the scenery, Anka become oblivious to her surrounding including the pebbles ahead of her which resulted in her tripping. Before Anka’s body could touch the ground, she feels hands grabbing her arms before pulling her up straight.</p>
<p>“An, pay attention to the road,” Kenma scolded. Anka smiles shyly at him. “You’re one to talk,” She teased. “But thank you, Kenma.” Kenma said nothing in response.</p>
<p>When they finally arrived at the convenience store, like usual, Kenma holds the door to let Anka in. “What are you getting?” Anka asked him as they walk to the snack shelves. At the end, they bought potato chips, cookies and some other snacks that they decided to share. Kenma also bought a chocolate milk while Anka decided on a melon soda. After walking down the shelves a few times and found nothing else they’re interested in buying, Kenma and Anka go straight to the cashier to pay, deciding on splitting the price. After that, they walk for a while before deciding to take a seat in a park near their lodging.</p>
<p>Kenma takes out his chocolate milk and Anka’s melon soda before giving the melon soda to Anka. “Thank you,” Anka said as she opens the can.</p>
<p>The two sit in silence for a while. Both admiring the starry sky, although Kenma steals a glance towards the girl once in a while.</p>
<p>“Hey, Kenma,” Kenma turned his head towards the girl nervously, worried if Anka caught him staring at her. But Anka’s gaze is still focused on the sky. Kenma lets out a relieved sigh at that. “Yeah?” He asked before taking a sip of his chocolate milk. “Do you want to play a game?” Anka asked as she turns on her seat to face the boy. Kenma frowns. “What game?” Kenma stares at the girl as she opens a bag of potato chips. He takes one chip when the girl offered her. “20 questions,” She answered. “It’s basically just us taking turn to ask each other questions,” She continued before looking at Kenma. “If you’re comfortable, of course.”</p>
<p>Kenma ponders for a while. <em>I don’t see any problem in that, </em>He thought. <em>After all, it’s like killing two birds with one stone. I got to spend time with her while at the same time getting to know her better. </em></p>
<p>Kenma shrugs. “Sure.” Anka grins. “You could go first if you’d like,” Anka said.</p>
<p>Kenma ponders in silence for a while as he sips his chocolate milk. “What’s your favorite food?” He finally asked. <em>That’s a lame question</em>, He huffed as he take a sip of his chocolate milk. “I like meat,” She answered. “What’s yours?” Anka asked while handing him the potato chips bag she’s holding. He munches on his potato chips before answering. “Apple pie,” He answered.</p>
<p>A realization seems to dawned on her as a grin growns on her face. Somehow, the sight makes Kenma worried. “What is it?”</p>
<p>“So that’s the secret behind your usernames on your games,” She teased. Kenma huffed. “Yeah.”</p>
<p>“That’s adorable.”</p>
<p>“No, it’s not.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, it is.”</p>
<p>“Shut up, Hotcakes. What does hotcakes even mean? Is that your favorite food or something?”</p>
<p>“...Yeah.”</p>
<p>“You’re lying.”</p>
<p>“No, I’m not.”</p>
<p>“Yes, you are. Now to continue our game, what’s the secret behind your games username?” Anka narrows her eyes. “I don’t like you, Kozume.”</p>
<p>Kenma rolls his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic,” He said. “Just answer the question, An.” After the nickname leaves his mouth, Kenma stares as he sees Anka seems to relax slight. Kenma looked at her in confusion. <em>Does she like the nickname so much? </em>He thought. “Well,” Anka strarted. She goes silence for another second before sighing. “Hatake,” She mumbles. Kenma blinks his eyes a few times. “Hatake? Do you mean Hatake Kakashi?” He asked. Anka huffed as she nodded. “I like him and I wanted my username to include him but if I use his name clearly, my brother would tease me,” She said. “So I used Hotcakes.”</p>
<p>Kenma frowns. “How does Hatake becomes Hotcakes?”</p>
<p>“It sounds similar. Hotcakes. Hottake. Hatake.” She shrugs. Kenma laughes. “That doesn’t even make any sense,” He said.</p>
<p>“Shut up, Applepi.”</p>
<p>“You have no right to tease me like that, <em>Hotcakes,</em>” He said. Anka huffed in annoyance. Kenma simply smiles at her childishness as the girl eats another potato chip. “Let’s just continue our game,” She said with her mouth full. “Finish your food first, An,” Anka huffed.</p>
<p>After finally finished munching on the potato chips, they finally continued their game. Through their game, they got to know each other better. Anka finally knows that Kenma’s favorite color is black since it makes him blend in with the crowd, that he and Kuroo were childhood friends (Anka was suprised to found out that Kuroo used to be so shy and quiet and he became more open because of volleyball), that he doesn’t like the whole age-based hierarchy because his seniors used to constantly target on him specifically throughout his first year at Nekoma High that he considered quitting volleyball although Kuroo managed to talked him out of it, that he doesn’t want to cut his hair because he gest anxious when his field of vision is too wide, and that his birthday is on October 16<sup>th</sup>.</p>
<p>While Kenma finally knows Anka’s love for drawing and that she loves to buy notebooks with plain cover so she could draw the cover herself, that she started cooking at an early age because of her mother although it is only recently that she started baking, that she’s a middle child and her older brother is currently a university student staying in South Korea, that her mother has a catering business and that’s the reason why she didn’t apply to become a manager on her first year, that Hanare is her first friend in Japan and has helped her a lot in getting more fluent in Japanese, and that her birthday is on February 9<sup>th</sup>.</p>
<p>They continued their games until most of their snacks are empty. Kenma handed Anka the last potato chip before putting the bag back into the plastic bag with the other trash to throw away on their way home. “Anyway, last question,” Anka said after she finished munching on her potato chip. Kenma simply nods before taking the last sip of his chocolate milk. “What’s the story behind your pudding hair?” She asked. Kenma huffed. “So you think it’s like pudding too?” Anka grins. “Yeah. It’s cute,” She commented. Kenma goes silence for a while as he feels his cheeks reddening, <em>again</em>.</p>
<p><em>What is it with Anka and the word ‘cute’? </em>He grumbles.</p>
<p>“Well,” Kenma started. “Someone made up a horror story about a black-haired Sadako-like ghost in the club room who you usually shows up with these strange sounds,” He said. Anka frowns. “There’s a ghost in the club room?” Kenma shakes his head. “No. It was me playing games with the curtains closed because it was too <em>bright</em>. The strange sounds are my games’ sound effects and they said it was like Sadako because my black hair covers my face when I played. That story scared Yamamoto and so he told me how the story caught the other students’ attention and that some were planning to do some kind of test-of-nerve in the club room. So I decided to dye my hair blonde because I hated the attention but apparently my blonde hair caught even <em>more </em>attention and the members tried to come up with some ways to make it less distracting but it fails so I just let them be,” He said. “It’s too troublesome to dye the roots so I just let them be.”</p>
<p>Anka giggles. She loves hearing stories about the boys’ antics before she joined that Kuroo had happily told her. Now, she couldn’t get the image of blonde-haired Kenma in her mind.</p>
<p>“An,” Kenma said. “It’s getting late. Let’s go.” Kenma and Anka picks up their stuff before making their way back to their lodging. Kenma throws away the plastic bag on the nearby trash can. “It’s kinda funny how I didn’t know anything about you before I joined the volleyball club even though we’re in the same year,” Anka said. “But well, I did spend all of my time with Hanare that I didn’t really pay attention to other students.” Kenma turned his head towards her. “You’re really close with her, huh?” Anka happily nods. “Yeah. We’ve been friends since the first time I walked into Nekoma High. She’s like my sister at this point,” She shrugs.</p>
<p>“But anyway, there’s no use dwelling in the past,” She smiles at Kenma. “We’re friends now and that’s all that matters.”</p>
<p>Kenma stares at the girl, whose attention once again on the starry sky, in silence. “Yeah,” He simply said, trying to ignore the voices inside of his head wishing for them to be more than what they are now.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The days after that are spent practicing to prepare for the upcoming practice match against Karasuno on Sunday. Anka would wake up the earliest to cook breakfast for the team. After cleaning up the kitchen, she would do her managerial duties while the members are practicing. They have break time during midday to eat lunch prepared by Anka. Then practice would continue until the evening and the day ends with dinner, once again, prepared by Anka. Fortunately, the members would help Anka cleaning up the kitchen and they would also clean up after themselves which Anka feels grateful for.</p>
<p>After dinner and bath, Anka and Kenma would go to the convenience store to buy some snacks and talks at the nearby park they went to on Thursday night. Their outings went on for two nights. During their second outing, they ran into Kuroo who just bought a drink from the vending machine. Anka and Kenma passed by Kuroo while trying to ignore the knowing grin on his face.</p>
<p>But on Saturday night, Anka decided to spend time with the members in their room before bedtime instead of going to the convenience store.</p>
<p>Right now, she’s playing UNO with Fukunaga on his futon beside Kenma while the pudding-haired boy is busy playing his games. Kuroo, whose futon is beside Kenma, is busy reading strategies for tomorrow’s practice match against Karasuno. Meanwhile, Yamamoto is giving some sort of pep talk to two poor first-years, Inuoka and Shibayama.</p>
<p>“They’re our nemesis!” The sound of Yamamoto’s voice caught her attention, she turned her head towards him.</p>
<p>“I don’t know whether they have on or not. But if they have a girl manager, I’ll buy you bread,” Yamamoto said. Anka deadpans at his words. The girl huffed before turning her attention towards the UNO cards in her hands. Inuoka and Shibayama lets out a confused sound at Yamamoto’s words. “I’d prefer it if they do!” Inuoka said. “Me too,” Shibayama added happily.</p>
<p>Yamamoto angrily points his finger at them. “Idiot! They’re our <em>nemesis</em>. If we have a female manager and they <em>don’t</em>, then we’ll get the upper hand!”</p>
<p>Anka sighes. <em>I hope they do have a female manager</em>, Anka thought. Tsukinokizawa High doesn’t have any female manager which made it quiet lonely for Anka. While the boys are socializing with Tsukinokizawa’s members and the coaches are talking to Tsukinokizawa’s coaches, Anka was left to her own devices. Some of Tsukinokizawa’s members tried to talk to her but their intention was to <em>flirt</em> and it made her uncomfortable seeing them looking her up and down. Although Kenma chose to be with Anka rather than socializing, and Anka does love his company, the brunette couldn’t help but wish for another female company.</p>
<p>“Our manager, Hirai Anka, is gorgeous and adorable,” Kenma and Anka both frowns at that. “If Karasuno doesn’t have a female manager, they could only watch in jealousy while we have our manager to tend to us!” Yamamoto said smugly. After saying that, the boy quickly stands up and opens the window. “Watch out, Karasuno!” Yamamoto said into the night sky with one feet on the window pane and both of his hands around his mouth.</p>
<p>“SHUT UP, YAMAMOTO!” Anka jumped a little out of surprise because of Kuroo’s sudden loud voice.</p>
<p>Yamamoto ignored him, instead turning his head towards Kenma with a smile. “What do you think, Kenma?”</p>
<p>Anka turned her head towards Kenma to see the pudding-haired boy wiggling his toes. <em>Adorable</em>. Anka chuckles. Fukunaga looks at her confused. “What’s funny?” He asked. Anka shakes her head with a grin.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, at Kenma’s response, Yamamoto turned away with an annoyed expression. “I figure you’d say that.”</p>
<p>“But,” Yamamoto turned back towards Kenma. “I’m looking forward to playing them,” Kenma said with a smile.</p>
<p>Anka and the boys let out a suprise sound at Kenma’s words. During the whole time Anka know Kenma, she never saw him get excited over anything other than his games even though the other boys have shown some enthusiast during their practice match or daily practices at Nekoma. But the boys are seemingly more suprised than she is remembering they have know Kenma for a longer period of time than she is. <em>Then this must really be the first</em>, Anka thought.</p>
<p>Suddenly, she remembers the orange-haired cheerful boy named Hinata Shoyo that they met when they first arrived at Miyagi. <em>Does this have something to do with him?</em></p>
<p>“You’re never enthusiastic about anything, yet you’re looking forward to the game?” Yamamoto said in a loud surprised voice.</p>
<p>Kuroo turned his head towards Yamamoto, annoyed. “If you’ve got so much energy, why don’t we increase your practice time?”</p>
<p>“I-I’ll keep quiet,” Yamamoto said in a quiet voice before sitting back down.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Anka remembers Hinata Shoyo with his orange hair and his excitement when it comes to volleyball. Then she’s reminded by Hinata’s obliviousness of their origin of schoold despite the bright red Nekoma jacket she and Kenma wore. “Anka,” Anka turned her head to see Fukunaga. “It’s your turn.” Anka grins. “Oh yeah, sorry,” She said before putting a 4+ card on the pile of cards between them resulting in a groan from Fukunaga.</p>
<p><em>He must not know that we’ll be meeting again on Sunday, </em>Anka thought. <em>Then that just makes it more fun that way</em>.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The long-awaited Sunday has finally come. Anka could feel the excitement in the air since they’re finally meeting their long-time rival once again in a practice match. She could also see the look of excitement on Coach Nekomata’s face despite his calm demeanor that he didn’t have during their practice match with Tsukinokizawa High. From what Kuroo told her, the rivalry between the two schools whose mascots are cats and crows started from the rivalry between Coach Nekomata and Karasuno’s Coach Ukai. And apparently, Coach Ukai has once again returned to Karasuno. Although not the Coach Ukai that he once went up against, but his grandson is now the coach of Karasuno which explains the reason behind Coach Nekomata’s excitement.</p>
<p>Anka couldn’t help but let herself carried away by the atmosphere. So when they finally meet Karasuno, she couldn’t help but to shake in excitement.</p>
<p>“Anka, calm down,” Kenma said to her which Anka only responded with a grin.</p>
<p>Anka watched as the Karasuno team and the Nekoma team lines up in front of each other. The grin on her face slowly turned into a nervous smile due to the tense atmosphere between the teams.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Anka jumped a little at the sudden voice. She turned around to see <em>a literal goddess standing in front of her</em>. Anka’s eyes widened as her mind process the sight in front of her.</p>
<p>The girl standing behind her is of average height with silky shoulder-length black hair, grey eyes framed by glasses with pink rims and bridge, and a mole located on the lower left side of her chin. She’s wearing Karasuno’s black training with a pink bag on her shoulder. Anka stares nervously at the taller girl, suddenly confused on what to say and what to do.</p>
<p>The girl, noticing Anka’s nervousness, smiles kindly at her. “My name is Shimizu Kiyoko. I’m Karasuno’s manager and a third year,” The girl – Kiyoko – said as she offers a hand to Anka.</p>
<p>Anka lets out a nervous sigh before putting on a friendly smile, at least she hopes it looks friendly. “Hi, Shimizu-senpai. My name is Hirai Anka, but you can call me Anka. I’m Nekoma’s manager and I’m a second year,” She introduces herself as she shakes Kiyoko’s hand.</p>
<p>Kiyoko’s eyes brightens which makes her whole appearance seems outworldy for Anka. “Please just call me Kiyoko,” She said. “I’m so happy that Nekoma has a female manager. It’s quiet lonely and boring without a female company.”</p>
<p>Anka feels herself relax. “Yeah, I feel you. As much as I love the members, a female company has never failed to make the situation better.” Kiyoko laughed softly at that.</p>
<p>“Anka, would you like to walk to the gym with me?” Kiyoko offered. Anka grins. “Sure, Kiyoko-senpai!”</p>
<p>Anka and Kiyoko walk side by side towards the gym while making small talks. Anka glances to notice that the members of the two teams have started interacting with each other. Anka grimaces as she sees Yamamoto trying to pick a fight with a bald Karasuno member. <em>They’re similar oh my God</em>, Anka thought as she sees the two hot-headed boy argue with each other.</p>
<p>“Wanna fight? Come on, city boy,” Yamamoto said as he looks at the bald boy with an intimidating expression.</p>
<p>“That’s Tanaka,” Kiyoko said as they got closer to the chaos. “Oh,” Anka said. “That’s Yamamoto. He’s hot-headed so,” Anka sighes.</p>
<p>Kiyoko chuckles. “The same goes to Tanaka. I can’t imagine what it would be like since they’re similar in personality.” Anka nods as she grumbles.</p>
<p>A grey-haired Karasuno boy stares at Tanaka’s back with a disapproving look. “Of course, we’re going to fight. We have a match.”</p>
<p>“Yamamoto,” Yaku said. “Can you quit picking fights? It makes you look stupid.” Yaku scolded.</p>
<p>Their comments seem to humiliate the two hot-headed teens shown by the fact that they have stopped arguing and instead standing in front of each other with their heads down.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that. He’s a bit too much!” Yaku apologizes as he rubs the back of his head with a grin. “Same here. Ours is, too!” The grey-haired boy said as he bows his head.</p>
<p>“That’s Yaku-senpai, he’s a third year,” Anka said to Kiyoko as she tilts her head towards Yaku. “That’s Sugawara. He’s also a third year,” Kiyoko said. Anka smiles as she stares at the boys. “It’s really interesting to see people from different teams with similar personality. Although it is more chaotic,” Anka commented.</p>
<p>At that time, Anka and Kiyoko passed the boys. Anka glances to see Yamamoto blushing heavily at the sight of Kiyoko who only sends him a nod as she stopped on her track, her expression becoming aloof. “You have a girl manager,” Yamamoto stutters while Shibayama and Inuoka behind him celebrating the fact that their senior would be buying them bread.</p>
<p>Anka shakes her head. It’s been a while since Yamamoto acts nervous like that, the last time she saw that was when she first met him.</p>
<p>But then, the sound of a gasp surprised her. “YOU HAVE A GIRL MANAGER?” Anka turned her head towards Tanaka with wide eyes. That seems to bring Yamamoto out of his daze. The boy grasp Anka’s hand and pulls her to his side. “Yes! Let me introduce Hirai Anka, our manager!” Yamamoto said with a smug smile. Anka seems bewildered as she looks at Tanaka and his teary eyes. <em>What the.. </em>“She’s <em>gorgeous </em>and <em>adorable</em>!” Tanaka said.</p>
<p>“Woah, Hirai-san!” Anka, desperate to get away from the chaos, turned her head from towards the source of the sound to see Hinata waving at her excitedly. Meanwhile there’s a black-haired boy near him who seems like he’s having an inner turmoil while staring at Kenma. “Oh, Hinata,” Anka turned slightly towards Kiyoko. The black-haired girl nods with a smile on her face. “I’ll meet you inside,” Kiyoko said.</p>
<p>Anka approaches Hinata while waving her hand. “Hi, Hinata! We meet again,” She said with a grin. “Yeah! I’ve met Kenma too! I didn’t realize that you’re from Nekoma!” He said in his loud excited voice. Anka laughes. “Well you’re not that observant are you? You didn’t realize that even though we were wearing bright red jackets,” Anka teased. Hinata blushes at that.</p>
<p>Anka turned towards the black-haired boy. “Hi! I’m Hirai Anka, Nekoma’s manager. What’s your name?” She asked as she offers a hand.</p>
<p>The boy shakes her hand stiffly. “I’m Kageyama Tobio, setter,” He said. <em>So this is the setter Hinata mentioned</em>, She thought as she remembers their conversation. <em>That explains his intense stare towards Kenma</em>.</p>
<p>Anka looks around to see that they’re the only ones outside. “Hey, let’s go inside!” She said towards the two boys. They both walk side by side towards the gym.</p>
<p>Although as soon as they entered, the three teenagers stopped on their tracks. Anka rolls her eyes when she sees Kuroo and the captain of Karasuno are shaking hands in the middle of the gym with fake stiff smiles on their faces. “The ceiling’s so high!” Hinata said excitedly. Anka turned towards him with a smile before excusing herself to go towards the benches to put down her stuff.</p>
<p>“You took some time,” Anka turned her head towards Kenma who’s sitting on a bench.</p>
<p>Anka grins. “Yeah, I was caught up by something,” She said. Kenma opened his mouth to say something but he is interrupted by the sound of Kuroo’s voice calling the members to gather. Anka continues taking out her stuff including her notebook. Then the girl sits down on a bench and quickly writes down details about the Karasuno team members including their names and jersey numbers before leaving some space to add in some information letter. Anka opens her pencil case to takes out a sticky note and quickly draws some crows before sticking it on the edge of the page to bookmark the page as Karasuno’s.</p>
<p>While waiting for the game to start, she sets up the towels and fill up the water bottles with Kiyoko which makes the whole process more enjoyable because they talked for the whole time. Then she goes back to her seat and doodles some crows.</p>
<p>“We’re like blood in the body,” Anka looks up from her notebooks when she hears Kuroo’s voice to see that team had put their fists in the between them as they formed a circle. <em>The team mantra</em>, Anka thought excitedly. She had found the team mantra to be interesting that she looks forward to hearing Kuroo say it. Although Kenma seems embarassed by it. “Let’s flow freely,” Kuroo continued. “Delivering the oxygen,” Anka looks towards Kenma, knowing who the inspiration behind the mantra Kuroo made is. “So that our brain functions well.”</p>
<p>“Enjoy the game, guys!” Anka said as she claps her hands excitedly when her team walked into the court. Yamamoto sends her a thumbs up while Kenma only nods at her.</p>
<p>Anka leans back on her seat as she holds her pen in her hand, ready to write down any observation she has of Karasuno throughout the practice matches.</p>
<p><em>Now let’s see what kind of opponent Karasuno is</em>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of the whistle blown by the referee signals the beginning of the match. “It’s time to begin the match. Nekoma versus Karasuno,” The referee said. Anka bounces on her seat in excitement. “Let’s begin!” The two teams said before walking to their starting positions.</p>
<p>“Woah!” Inuoka’s surprised voice caught her attention. The first-year stares at Hinata in “Don’t mock me!” Hinata protested. “I’m not!” Inuoka said with a smile. “Really?” Hinata asked. Anka rolls her eyes before looking at the other members. When she caught Kenma’s gaze, Anka sends him a thumbs up which he only replied with a nod and a small smile on his face before turning towards Hinata. “Shoyo, I said I thought our team was strong. I meant everyone else,” Kenma sends Hinata a smile. “Not me,” He said before running towards his starting position.</p>
<p>The games started with Kenma’s serves. The tall Karasuno brunette guy with his hair in a bun named Asahi receives the ball sloppily which makes Anka grimaces slightly. “That’s because you skipped training!” Karasuno’s libero, Nishinoya, shouted at Asahi. “I’m sorry!” Asahi apologizes in panicked.</p>
<p>But then, something happened. Hinata jumped with his arms ready to toss and <em>eyes closed</em>. Then everything happened quickly. Kageyama, Karasuno’s number 9,  jumped, his hands touching the ball. Then suddenly, the ball is in front of Hinata’s hand in a perfect position. The orange-haired boy swings his arms back before hitting the ball, eyes closed, the ball passed the net and touched the ground. The point is theirs.</p>
<p>Anka froze in amazement. She guesses her team is the same cause there’s no sound other than the ball bouncing off the wall then the ground and the sound of the whistle.</p>
<p>“He wasn’t even watching the toss,” Coach Nekomata said, shocked. Anka turned towards Coach Nekomata to see his shocked almost annoyed expression.</p>
<p>Anka bits her lip both out of excitement and worries. <em>How will her team get out of this? </em>The brunette turned her head towards Kenma approaching Hinata. “Wow, that came out of nowhere,” Kenma praised. The still silence in the gym has allowed Anka to hear Kenma’s words clearly. Hinata laughes as he rubs the back of his head shyly. Meanwhile, Anka doesn’t take her eyes off of Kenma. The sudden fascination and focused gaze in his eyes had caught Anka’s attention.</p>
<p>Anka leans back on her seat as she started writing down her observations on Karasuno and their quick attacks duo. Things just got more interesting.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Anka groans as Karasuno scored another point. Thrown off by Hinata’s spike, the Nekoma players decided to focus more on the orange-haired boy. Unfortunately, that allows the other Karasuno’s players to spike unguarded.</p>
<p>Coach Nekomata stands up from his seat as he asks for a time out. “What a mess!” He commented. When the members gathered around Coach Nekomata, Anka immediately approach them with water bottles in her hand. After she distributes the water bottles. She stands silently beside Coach Nekomata as he talks. “They’ve got a good libero and spiker,” Coach Nekomata said. “However, their setter is particularly good. He’s something else. His toss to the spiker is quick. He’s got supreme control,” Coach Nekomata smiles. “But one genius does not make a winning team.” He glances towards Kenma.</p>
<p>“If Shoyo’s their main attack, I’ve got to stop him,” Kenma said as he lowers his gaze. Coach Nekomata explains how although Kageyama stands out with his tosses, his strong tosses only work with one person. Hinata Shoyo. Which is why to stop the duo’s crazy quicks, then they’ll just have to stop one of them which in this case is Hinata.</p>
<p>“Let’s narrow Shoyo’s area of movement,” Kenma said. “If I’m right, Shoyo shoots into areas where there’s no block. So if we place the block on one side, he’ll move to the other. Then we follow him,” He glances towards Inuoka who nodded excitedly. “That attack,” Kenma continued. “Anyone would be taken by surprise the first time. But when something’s repeated over and over again, you get used to it.”</p>
<p>After that, seemingly satisied, Coach Nekomata returns to his seat while the boys are drinking their water. Anka stares silently at Kenma whose gaze never leaves the orange-haired boy.</p>
<p>The blow of the whistle signals the end of their time-out. “Kenma,” Kenma turned towards Anka who has a smile on her face. “Good luck,” She said as she helds up one hand. Kenma gives her a quick high five without meeting her gaze. “Thanks,” He mumbles before handing his water bottle to her and returning towards his position. “So,” Anka turned her had to see Kuroo standing behind her with a teasing grin on his face. “Does the ‘good luck’ high five only reserved for Kenma or...”</p>
<p>Anka rolls her eyes before holding up her hand. “Good luck, Kuroo,” She said with a sweet smile which earned a laugh from Kuroo.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Anka smiles proudly as Inuoka finally managed to block Hinata’s spikes. True to Kenma’s words, Inuoka shadowed Hinata and his every movement. Slowly but surely, Inuoka managed to touch Hinata’s spikes until finally he stopped Hinata’s spike and keeps blocking him during the second set. Anka quickly writes down her observation on the game. A smile never leaving her face as she remembers how Kenma managed to trick Karasuno twice which leads to Nekoma scoring another point.</p>
<p>“Woah! Kenma, nice!” Anka shouted while clapping her hands excitedly when Kenma did a setter’s dump, earning another point for Nekoma. The pudding-haired boy caught her gaze for a second before returning his focus on the game.</p>
<p>“Anka,” Anka looks up from her notes towards Coach Nekomata. “What do you think of Karasuno?”</p>
<p>Surprised by the question, Anka steals a glance towards Hinata nervously. “Well,” She started. “They got potential and could become a formidable opponent but it might take some times. Their quick attack is crazy but it seems like Hinata is relying too much on Kageyama’s toss,” She continued. “It’s surprising to see that for the first time. But if they keep playing with the same formula,” She remembers Hinata and his closed eyes, putting his whole trust into Kageyama and his toss. “Then the opponents would finally find a way to stop them, since they’re basically just repeating the same thing.”</p>
<p>Coach Nekomata smiles in satisfaction. “Good observation,” He commented. Anka grins shyly at him before refocusing on the game.</p>
<p>Anka’s eyes widened as Hinata once again jumped up, ready to do their quick attack. But this time, his eyes are wide open. Anka nervously watches as Kageyama toss the ball towards Hinata. Unfortunately, Hinata missed the ball and ended up falling to the ground. Anka couldn’t help but grimaces. Even though Karasuno is their opponent, the brunette dislikes seeing the frustration the normally cheerful boy as his spikes keep getting blocked by Inuoka.</p>
<p>The whistle was blown once again as Coach Ukai asked for time out. Anka stands up with water bottles in hand as her members approached her.</p>
<p>“You did amazing! Keep up the good work!” Anka smiles at Inuoka as she handed him his water bottles.</p>
<p>Anka approached Kenma last to hand him his water bottle. “You did amazing! As expected from the brain of Nekoma,” Anka grins earning an eye roll from Kenma. “Stop calling me that,” He mumbles before taking a sip from his water bottles.</p>
<p>The sound of the whistle signals the end of their time out. “Keep up the amazing work, Guys!” Anka said excitedly as she tighten her grasps on the water bottles in her arms.</p>
<p>After putting down the water bottles, she sits herself back down on the bench and takes out her notebooks again.</p>
<p>Once again, Hinata jumped with his eyes open and his arms ready to spike. Anka watched as his hand got closer to the ball. At the last minute, Hinata turned his hand and automatically at the same time changed the direction of his spike. Anka gasps as his hand make contact with the ball. She watches nervously as the ball falls and touched the ground. Anka lets out a frustrated sigh. <em>The ball is out</em>, She thought. The fact Karasuno had taken risks to try new things in the middle of a match as soon as their strategy is unraveled by the opponent team seems admirable but also idiotic to her.</p>
<p>The game continues. As the game went on, Anka had let out frustrated sounds and also screams out of joy whenever Nekoma scores another point. Anka bites her lip as Hinata slams the ball past Inuoka. Fortunately, Yaku received the ball causing the ball to soar back up but it hits the net. Anka watches as the ball falls but before the ball could touch the ground, Kai manages to save it causing the ball to go towards the back. Anka inhales sharply as Kenma lunges for the ball and sends it back over to Karasuno.</p>
<p>Both Nishinoya and Hinata runs towards the back with their arms reaching out, trying to save the ball. But at the end, the ball touches the ground. Another point scored by Nekoma. The referee blows the whistle, signaling the end of the match with 25-23.</p>
<p>Anka jumps excitedly on her seat as she watches the team crowded around Kenma. The brunette grins when Yamamoto slings his arm around Kenma before putting the shorter male into a headlock as he ruffles Kenma’s hair.</p>
<p>“Once more!” Hinata’s voice caught the attention of everyone in the room. “Once more! Let’s do it!” Hinata said with his hands clinched into a fist at his sides.</p>
<p>“I had every intention,” Coach Nekomata said causing the orange-haired boy’s eyes to brighten as he smiles excitedly at the coach. “This is a practice match after all!”</p>
<p>Nekoma and Karasuno ended up playing five more matches and six matches in total with Nekoma winning every single one of them. Anka smiles as she stares at her notes. The gaps between the final points of the both team for each match are narrow. As expected from long-timed rivals.</p>
<p>Anka looks up and smiles as she sees the players of both team have run out of stamina and are now on the ground as they catch their breath. Well, except for one.</p>
<p>“Once more!” Hinata’s excited voice made Anka looks at him both in confusion and in amazement. <em>Why is he not tired yet? </em>Apparently the same thought went across Coach Nekomata’s mind. “What? You’re not tired yet? You have an excess of stamina!” He said. But then, Karasuno’s Coach Ukai pulls the boy up by his collar. “That’s enough. There’s a train to catch,” He said. Anka lets out a sigh of relief.</p>
<p>After Coach Nekomata and Coach Ukai talks to the opposite’s team as a closing of their practice match. The two teams started cleaning up the gym.</p>
<p>Anka and Kiyoko make their way to the faucets to clean up the water bottles. “Today’s practice matches was really fun! I understand why Nekoma and Karasuno are long-timed rivals,” Anka grins at the black-haired beauty. Kiyoko smiled. “Yeah, me too. Since I started being the team’s manager, I never got the chance to see a practice match between Nekoma and Karasuno. I’m really grateful that I got to see that before I graduate,” Kiyoko said. Anka opened her mouth to say something but the sound of a sneeze coming from Kiyoko stopped her.</p>
<p>“Kiyoko-senpai! Are you alright?” Anka asked, the girl pulls out a tissue and hands it over to the third year. “Here you go!”</p>
<p>Kiyoko gives her a grateful smile. “Thank you!”</p>
<p>“By the way, Kiyoko-senpai, do you mind if we exchange numbers?” Anka asked. “It’s my first time meeting another female manager and I would love to keep in contact with you! After all,” Anka grins. “Seeing at our team’s rivalry, I say this won’t be the last time we see each other.” Kiyoko giggles. “Sure!”</p>
<p>Anka pulls out her phone and hands it over to the third year so she could input her number. After that, Anka sends out a message to Kiyoko so she could also saved her contacts. “Thank you!” Anka said as Kiyoko sends her a smiling emoji. “No problem. I’m also happy to meet another female manager.”</p>
<p>They both continue washing the water bottles while talking and laughing with each other. <em>Joining the volleyball club is officially the best decision I’ve made in high school! </em>Anka thought as she watches Kiyoko laughs.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Kiyoko and Anka walks back to the gym side by side after all the water bottles have been cleaned. Anka makes her way back to where she put her stuff while Kiyoko walks back to hers. The brunette grins when she sees Inuoka and Hinata talking to each other animatedly. The first-years conversation consists of a lot of incomprehensible excited noises which she doesn’t really understand the meaning of. <em>They’re so cute, </em>Anka thought as she makes a mental reminder to ask for Hinata’s contact.</p>
<p>Anka is too shy to ask the other Karasuno members to exchange numbers with her since she didn’t talk to any of them other than Kiyoko and Hinata. Also, some of the Karasuno members’ appearance are intimidating. Anka shivers as she remembers the tall blonde-haired first year named Tsukishima Kei whose ridiculously tall height and cold judging expression. Although Lev is taller than Tsukishima, Lev is certainly more approachable with his friendly and cheerful personality.</p>
<p><em>I miss him</em>, Anka huffed. <em>He would totally get along with Hinata</em>.</p>
<p>Anka was brought out of her reverie by the sight of Kenma running towards her. “What’s wrong?” She frowns when she sees the unnerved expression on his face.</p>
<p>“Karasuno’s setter,” He said. “Kageyama? What’s wrong with him?”</p>
<p>“He’s... Intimidating.” Anka laughes. “Really? I think he’s cute,” Anka said as she zips up the bag containing their towels. Kenma frowns. “I talked to him earlier and he seems awkward,” Anka shrugs. “I found it adorable.”</p>
<p>Kenma frowns when Anka excuses herself and he watches as Anka approaches the setter, who’s still looking intensely at Kenma. <em>Adorable?</em></p>
<p>“Kageyama-san,” Anka called out. The black-haired setter turned his head towards Anka. “Oh, um,” Kageyama stares at her awkwardly. “I’m Hirai Anka. We talked earlier?” Kageyama eyes widened. “Oh, yeah. I certainly remember you.” <em>He certainly does not</em>. Anka smiles at him. “Do you mind exchanging numbers with me?” She asked. Kageyama nods. Anka hands her phone to him. After Kageyama finished entering his number, Anka texted him so he would also have her contacts before making her way towards Hinata.</p>
<p>“Hinata!”</p>
<p>“Hirai-san!”</p>
<p>“Do you mind exchanging numbers with me?” Hinata shouted excitedly at her request. After he enters his number into her phone, Hinata hands Anka’s phone back to her.</p>
<p>“Hirai-san, I’m sorry!” Anka looks up at the boy with her brows furrowing. “For what?” She asks as she puts her phone back into her pocket after sending a message to Hinata. “For yesterday when we first met! When I thought you and Kenma were a couple!” Anka’s cheeks grew hot at the reminder. “Oh, eum.. Don’t mind!” Anka said awkwardly. But the boy has started rambling. “There were just the two of you and you seem close and you look good together! So I instantly thought that you were a couple! Sorry for making you uncomfortable because of my assumptions!”</p>
<p>Anka grins. “It’s okay, Hinata! No worries! By the way, remember to text me, okay?” Anka asks. Hinata nods excitedly. “See you at Nationals, Hirai-san!” The two teenagers shake hands.</p>
<p>While making her way towards the bench to grab her stuff, Anka couldn’t help but replaying Hinata’s words in her mind. <em>You look good together. You look good together. We look good together. </em>Kenma and I <em>look good together. </em>Once again, she feels her cheeks grow hot. Suddenly, her dream and her recent doubt involving Kenma came rushing back into her mind. <em>Oh no</em>. Anka stopped on her tracks as a sudden realization came over her. <em>I have a crush on Kozume Kenma.</em></p>
<p>“An?” Anka turned her head towards Kenma with wide eyes. The boy seems taken aback at her expression. “Are you okay? You seem scared,” He said.</p>
<p>Anka blinks a few times before putting a smile on her face. She looks around to see that the rest of the members have already left the gym. “Yes, I’m okay. Let’s go to the bus now!” Anka said as she quickly grabs her stuff and running outside, leaving Kenma behind.</p>
<p>Outside of the gym, the members of both team are talking while saying goodbye with each other. Anka approached Kiyoko who just arrived from the bathroom. “Kiyoko-senpai, thank you for today! If you ever visit Tokyo, please contact me so we could hang out together!” Anka said.</p>
<p>“You too, Anka. Call me if you visit Miyagi, I would love to hang out with you outside of this whole volleyball stuff!”</p>
<p>“Kiyoko-senpai, do you mind if I hug you?” Anka asked. Kiyoko shakes her head and so Anka pulls the taller girl into a hug. “I hope you’ll have a safe trip,” The black-haired said. Anka grins. “You too, Kiyoko-senpai!”</p>
<p>Anka could hear the sounds of Tanaka, Nishinoya and Yamamoto squealing at the sight of her and Kiyoko hugging.</p>
<p>
  <em>“They’re so cute!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“My heart can’t take it!”</em>
</p>
<p>Anka rolls her eyes before pulling away. “Anka,” Anka turned towards Kuroo. “Let’s go. We have a train to catch.”</p>
<p>Anka nods and runs towards the bus. Before entering the bus, the brunette turned towards the Karasuno team to wave at them. “See you next time!”</p>
<p>After that, Anka quickly enters the bus to see Kenma already looking at her. The seat beside him are occupied by his gym bag. Anka makes her to the back of the bus to sit at the empty seat beside Fukunaga. “An,” Anka turned her head at Kenma’s voice to see him frowning. “Where are you going?” Anka blinks at him in confusion. “To... sit? There’s an empty seat beside Fukunaga.” Kenma takes his bag from the seat beside him and put it in between his leg. “This one is empty too.”</p>
<p>Anka grins. “Oh, I thought it was solely for your bag,” Anka sits herself down beside Kenma. As the bus started leaving the gym’s parking lot, Anka waves at the Karasuno members outside of the bus.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Anka lets out a relieved sigh as she throws herself onto her bed. The brunette leans back against her pillow as her right hand reaches for her phone on the night table. She arrived at Tokyo at around 9pm and instantly go to take a shower as soon as she arrived at home. Because her parents deemed it was too late already, they decided to pick her up at school by car. They dropped off Kuroo and Kenma first at their road before finally making their way home.</p>
<p>Anka opens clicked on the text notifications she received from Kenma. A smile instantly grows on her face as she scrolls through the pictures Kenma sent of her and the stray cat they met when they first arrived at Miyagi. Kenma forgot to send the pictures while Anka herself forgot to ask Kenma to send it until when they dropped the two boys off at their road. Seeing the pictures remind her of Hinata and then the whole Karasuno team.</p>
<p>Meeting Karasuno has become one of the highlights of her time in high school so far. She really enjoys being able to meet new friends and it was also amazed her to see how dedicated they were to volleyball. Of course her team is also dedicated and she couldn’t be more proud of them. But seeing Karasuno with their insane tricks and their ambition to push forward and bring back the glory days of Karasuno and also how they took a risk by trying new things during their practice match without a certainty that it will succeed.</p>
<p>Practice matches other than being a way to practice and upgrade a team’s skill by meeting other teams, it has also become a show off event to show how one’s team is better than their opponent. During her time as a volleyball team manager in junior high school, she had never seen a team that would try something new during the game since they would just use a strategy or trick that would ensure their victory and also their reputation. So it was really amazing for Karasuno to willingly try a new trick when they realized that the opponent has read their movements. They are, from Anka’s point of view, a worthy rival for the Nekoma team.</p>
<p>Anka hums as she saved all the pictures Kenma have sent. Another message notification caught her attention. Anka taps on the notification to see Kuroo’s name on top of her screen but then, her eyes widen as she sees the content of the message.</p>
<p><em>Oh no</em>. Anka huffed. It’s actually nothing scandalous or problematic. Although it <em>might </em>be kind of problematic, at least to her, after the recent realization that she had. After the recent realization that she had about her crush on Kozume Kenma. Anka had forced herself to fall asleep as soon as she sat in the train because after that realization, sitting next to Kenma become <em>harder </em>for her to do since she could feel her heartbeats getting faster everytime Kenma moves on his seat or the movement of the train that causes their shoulder to touch. And so, Anka decided that the wisest thing to do is to fall asleep and forget her issues for a while.</p>
<p>She managed to forget about her feelings during the ride home even with Kenma sitting beside her due to her tiredness. But then, with full consciousness and fresh from the shower, <em>this </em>picture had remind her of that and now the nervousness and panic she felt had now returned in full force. <em>It was a mistake to fall asleep, </em>She thought. <em>It was a mistake to fall asleep when Kuroo is around</em>.</p>
<p>The picture Kuroo had sent is a picture of Anka and Kenma sleeping taken on their train ride from Tokyo to Miyagi, judging by the date the picture is taken. Anka, who had fallen asleep with her earphones on, slept while leaning against Kenma’s shoulder. The latter, who is also asleep, also leans his head against hers. Anka’s face reddens as she remembers what happened during and after that picture. The dream she had of Kenma and also her realizing her feelings at the end of the practice camp.</p>
<p><em>Why do I even think so much about this? It’s not like something’s gonna happen, </em>Anka huffed.</p>
<p>During her time as the team’s manager so far, Kenma is the only member who never participate whenever the team talk about a beautiful student in their school or about Haiba Alisa, Lev’s older sister whose beauty makes her seem more like a goddess than a human (Anka stopped breathing for a second when Lev showed her a picture of the blonde green-eyed female). Anka, who doesn’t want to assume about something that is someone’s privacy, simply thought nothing of it. Although her crush on Kenma had made her rethink every interaction that they have.</p>
<p><em>He’s probably not interested in me romantically, </em>She thought. <em>Well you don’t know for sure, </em>Another voice inside of her said. <em>But it’s not like I could just ask him whether he has a crush on me or not. It could potentially ruin the friendship we had and he could become uncomfortable around me. I won’t let that happen. </em>Anka lets out a groan as she throws her head back against the pillow while closing her eyes in frustration. <em>It’s okay, Anka. Just let it flow. He’s the team’s member, you’re the team’s </em>manager<em>. Your purpose in becoming a manager is not to find a boyfriend but to support the team. Focus on that</em>.</p>
<p>The sudden vibration of her phone brought her out of her reverie. Anka swipes up the screen to find a text notification from Hanare.</p>
<p><em>Oh no. </em>Anka quickly opens the messaging app and opens Hanare’s message which is under the volleyball team’s group chat and also her family group chat which she had pinned. Anka didn’t check her phone until their ride home since she was too busy with the practice match. Anka’s attention was on her team, the game, on Karasuno, and her overall duties as the team’s manager which didn’t give her a lot of time to check on her phone. The brief break time she had was used to send an updates to her family before she continues helping the team. After the practice matches were done, she was too tired after running around doing her duties and also due to her inner turmoil about the whole Kenma thing. When she forced herself to fall asleep, it didn’t take long for her to sleep for the whole train ride. Her getting off the train and going to her house by car was done half-conscious since she was still dizzy from the whole ride.</p>
<p><em>30 unread messages. </em>Anka bites her lip as she scrolls through the messages to find that Hanare had been messaging her since the morning.</p>
<p>[7.00 am] <em>Good morning, Anka! </em></p>
<p>[7.00 am] <em>I hope your last day of practice camp will run smoothly ^^</em></p>
<p>[7.00 am] <em>Don’t forget to eat your breakfast!</em></p>
<p>[7.45 am] <em>I miss you so much :(</em></p>
<p>[7.45 am] <em>Let’s go hangout next week!!!!</em></p>
<p>[8.00 am] <em>I also miss Kazuki too </em></p>
<p>[8.01 am] <em>But don’t tell him that.</em></p>
<p>[8.01 am] <em>Well, I still miss you more though.</em></p>
<p>[9.30 am] <em>I hope we could go spend some time together next week.</em></p>
<p>[9.32 am] <em>Just the two of us.</em></p>
<p>[9.33 am] <em>Well, if you have time between your busy schedule as the team’s manager.</em></p>
<p>[12.00 pm] <em>I guess you’re busy.</em></p>
<p>[12.05 pm] <em>I hope you’re having fun.</em></p>
<p>[12.05 pm] <em>Not too much fun without me, hopefully.</em></p>
<p>[13.00 pm] <em>Don’t skip your meals, okay?!</em></p>
<p>[15.00 pm] <em>Why haven’t you replied to any of my texts?</em></p>
<p>[15.15 pm] <em>I know you’re busy.</em></p>
<p>[15.15 pm] <em>But I don’t think it would take even 5 minutes of your time to text me back.</em></p>
<p>[15.20 pm] <em>Is everything okay? </em></p>
<p>[15.21 pm] <em>I’m not gonna lie, I’m kinda worried.</em></p>
<p>[15.30 pm] <em>Everyone is nice to you, right?</em></p>
<p>[15.45 pm] <em>How’s Karasuno?</em></p>
<p>[16.00 pm] <em>Anka?</em></p>
<p>[16.oo pm] <em>...</em></p>
<p>[18.00 pm] <em>I’m sorry if I’m bothering you with my texts.</em></p>
<p>[18.oo pm] <em>I hope everything is okay.</em></p>
<p>[19.o0 pm] <em>Text me when you’re home.</em></p>
<p>[19.o0 pm] <em>Or not.</em></p>
<p>[19.o5 pm] <em>Just do whatever you want, I guess.</em></p>
<p>[19.10 pm] <em>See you.</em></p>
<p>Anka frowns as she reads the last messages. <em>Hanare is upset</em>, She thought. The previous days Anka still managed to reply to Hanare’s texts in between the practice camp but during the last day, Anka didn’t even remember about her phone since she was busy doing her duties and also interacting with Karasuno. She feels guilty for ignoring Hanare’s messages for the whole day but at the same time, the number of texts Hanare had sent for the whole day and also the texts’ growing intensity makes her feel <em>uncomfortable </em>somehow.</p>
<p>She had always known that Hanare was quiet clingy to her but not to this extent. <em>But then we were never really separated, </em>Anka thought. <em>Maybe she just needs more time to adapt. </em>But still, it has been weeks since they both started becoming busy with their own after-school club activites. <em>How much more time does she need? </em>Anka couldn’t help but thought. <em>But listen, Hanare is your best friend. Your first friend in Japan and you </em>literally <em>spend almost every day together. Maybe it </em>is <em>your fault for being busy with the team and ignores her and even postponed  your plan with her</em>.</p>
<p>Anka groans. <em>But it’s not like I’m the only one busy</em>, She thought. But then she remembers how Hanare tried to spend every free time that she has to be spent with Anka. Hanare is now a Student Council member and she probably has new friends. But still, she prioritizes Anka who is her first friend in Nekoma High. <em>Unlike you who spends more time with Kenma and the team now that you’re forgetting about her, </em>She huffed. <em>I guess I’ve been ignoring her lately, </em>Anka thought guiltily.</p>
<p>After all, Hanare is her first best friend in Japan. She helped Anka when she wasn’t as fluent as she is now in Japanese and she helped Anka in adapting to Japan in general. <em>She has done so much for me. But still, I kinda abandon her ever since I become the team’s manager. I’m a bad friend</em>. Anka bites her lip. <em>Well, I need to make it up to her. </em>Anka thought as she quickly replies to Hanare.</p>
<p>
  <em>Hi! I’m sorry for replying just now. Today has been hectic. I miss you too :” There will be the Interhigh Tournament soon but I don’t think it will be busy until two weeks from now. So next week, I’m yours! </em>
</p>
<p>A reply came soon after that.</p>
<p>
  <em>Okay! I will hold you to that!</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As she promised, Anka spends most of her free time the following week with Hanare. The green-haired girl makes sure that she would be able to spend her break time and lunch time together with Anka amidst her student council duties. She would also make time to escort Anka to the gym like she used to and since Hanare’s student council duties sometime ended at the evening, not long before the volleyball team’s practice ends, they would also walk home together. Anka feels like things have returned to how they were before they both got busy with their club activities when her days consist of only Hanare and sometimes Kazuki. How her life was before she knows Kenma and the whole Nekoma team.</p>
<p>After the realization she has of her feelings, interacting with Kenma becomes harder since the brunette couldn’t help but notice every little thing about the pudding-haired boy and she would always remind herself to not give Kenma any special treatments even though all she wanted to do was to hug the boy whenever Anka sees his tired expression. Interacting with Kenma becomes harder since whenever they talk, Anka could feel her heartbeats getting faster and louder that she’s sure that the whole team could hear it although no one has said anything.</p>
<p>Well, apart from Kuroo.</p>
<p>Even though the third-year never asked Anka or talk to her directly about her feelings, his teasing gaze and smiles are enough for Anka to understand that he is not oblivious to Anka’s feelings towards his childhood friend. Thankfully, Kuroo never does anything aside from the teasing gaze and smiles which now seems like an inside joke between them. Apart from Kuroo, none of the Nekoma team shows any sign of noticing Anka’s crush on the setter. Although the setter himself sometimes stares at Anka and Kuroo suspiciously whenever Kuroo teased her which made her worry.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry,” Kuroo said looking at her worried expression. “Kenma might be observant but there are some things that he’s oblivious about.”</p>
<p>Anka’s cheeks instantly redden, realizing that the third-year has caught onto her worries for the last few days.</p>
<p>Hanging out with Hanare has certainly gives Anka a break from dealing with her feelings for Kenma since Hanare doesn’t really ask about the volleyball team. Although hanging out with Hanare has significantly decrease her time with Kenma and Kuroo since the green-haired girl would wait for Anka every break time so they would surely spend time together. Even during the times they walk home together, Hanare would take her hand and pulled her away from the gym quickly without letting Anka wait for the two teenage boys.</p>
<p>At first, Anka thought it was because Hanare was tired. But when she asked Hanare whether she wants to be introduced to Kenma and Kuroo, the girl doesn’t seem interested and instead changing the topic.</p>
<p>The whole situation feels quite awkward for her. Especially when Kuroo and Kenma approached her one time before practice.</p>
<p>“Hey, Anka. We noticed that you’ve been going home these few days before us. Is there something wrong?” Kuroo asked.</p>
<p>“Nothing’s wrong. I walked home these few days with my bestfriend, Hanare,” She answered. Kuroo nods. “That’s cool, we were just worried,” Kuroo said as he pulled Kenma to stand beside him. “I’m not worried,” The pudding-haired boy grumbled. “Not really,” He added. Anka only smiles at him because even though he refused to say it, Anka knows that he was worried since the boy had texted her each time to make sure that she got back home safely. <em>It’s almost like he’s my boyfriend, </em>Her cheeks redden at the thought. <em>No. Shut up, don’t look too much into things. You’re friends, of course he’s worried</em>.</p>
<p>“Anka?” Kuroo’s voice brought her out of her reverie. “Anyway, we were just asking to make sure you didn’t walk home alone or something. And if you’d like, the four of us could go home together,” He said.</p>
<p>Anka considers his offer for a second before remembering Hanare and her reluctance to meet Kenma and Kuroo.</p>
<p><em>I don’t know why she’s like that though, </em>She thought. <em>But I don’t want to make her uncomfortable</em>. So instead, the girl smiles at the two boys in front of her. “It’s okay. Hanare is also a part of the student council and she wants to go home as quickly as she can, we’ll be okay,” She said.</p>
<p>Kenma looks at her for a second before nodding. “Well, if you ever need anything, you could just text me,” Kuroo said as he ruffles her hair before walking towards the court alongside Kenma.</p>
<p>Anka couldn’t help but sigh whenever she remembers that. She loves Hanare but she has also considers Kenma and the whole Nekoma team as her close friends. Somehow since she started hanging out more with Hanare, Anka feels that her time with the team has lessen. They would only interact during practice and interacting outside of practice is actually quite hard since she and Hanare would walk to a quiet part of the school to have their lunch.</p>
<p><em>I just want them to be friends with each other, </em>Anka huffed as she zips up her bag before slinging it over her shoulder, ready to walk home with Hanare who is once again stayed late at school for student council purposes.</p>
<p>“Anka!” Anka turned around to see Kuroo jogging towards her. “Kuroo, what’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“Well you know how the Interhigh Tournament is coming up soon so we will be needing our reverse jerseys. Have you got any updates from the store?” He asked.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, they told me it’ll be ready for pick up on Saturday so I’ll go and pick it up during that day,” Anka answered. Kuroo nods. “Cool. Anyway, what if Kenma and I come along with you on Saturday? We could also help you to shop for other things that we need for the upcoming tournament,” He offered. Anka contemplates his offer for a few seconds before deciding that there is no negative repercussions from letting Kuroo and Kenma comes to help her. “Sure! Thank you, by the way. But,” Anka looks around to see Kenma who just came out from the rest room and is now stopped by Lev in attempt to talk to the setter. “Is Kenma okay with that?” She asked, knowing Kenma prefers to spend his weekends playing games.</p>
<p>“He is <em>totally </em>okay with that,” Kuroo grins as he slings an arm around Anka’s shoulders. “Trust me.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Anka leans back again the tree as she takes a sip of her mango juice, nodding inbetween to show Hanare that the brunette is paying attention to her words. Since today is a bright day, they decided to have lunch underneath a tree on the school’s field. Anka sighes as she feels the wind blowing through her hair.</p>
<p>“Anyway, it’s been a while since we hang out together on the weekend. So what do you say if we go to a cafe or mall this Saturday?” Hanare asked.</p>
<p>Anka was about to open her mouth to say yes before remembering her plan to pick up the team’s reverse uniform.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, I can’t go this Saturday. I need to pick up the team’s reverse uniform and also buy other things that we need for the upcoming Interhigh Tournament with Kenma and Kuroo,” Anka said.</p>
<p>Hanare pouts. “So we can’t hang out this Saturday?”</p>
<p>“Well, what about on Sunday?”</p>
<p>Hanare huffed. “I can’t. I’m visiting my grandmother on Sunday.”</p>
<p>Anka bites her lip as she sees the way Hanare’s shoulders slumped and the little huff that the girl lets out. The brunette started panicking as she realizes that her friend’s mood has quickly went down. “Why don’t you just go with us on Saturday?” Hanare turned her head towards Anka. “You could also get to know Kenma and Kuroo.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Hanare mumbles. “I was hoping it would only be the two of us.”</p>
<p>“We could sneak away?” Anka asks timidly. Hanare stares at her for a few seconds, seemingly in thought before a smile grows on her face. “Sure!”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“Do I really have to go?” Kenma said as he pulled his hoodie over his head. Today is Saturday and they had just finish their weekend practices, the two boys are currently getting ready to go to the mall with Anka as they have planned. The pudding-haired boy has actually rejected Kuroo at first when the older boy asked him to go to the mall with him and Anka. For once, his reason was not because he wanted to play video games all day (Well he does but that wasn’t the main reason). It is because of Anka.</p>
<p>These past few days after they got home from Miyagi, Kenma found himself thinking about Anka more than he did. Kenma has always been an observant person but somehow, he feels as if he has been paying attention at Anka more than he usually does to other person. He couldn’t help but notice the way Anka’s eyes light up whenever she smiles or whenever she talks about something that she’s interested in, such as art and animes. He also couldn’t help but notice the way Anka would focus totally on anyone she’s speaking with even though the topic of the talk isn’t that familiar with her, the brunette girl would still be engaged to the conversation as if she does understand the topic and find it interesting although sometimes the confused look on her eyes shows the opposite to Kenma.</p>
<p>Or how she would mindlessly draws on her notebook in between practices and how her eyes would light up and a smile would grow on her face whenever their eyes meet, which somehow made Kenma feels warm and nervous. Or how, after Kenma finds out her admiration towards that one Naruto’s character named Hatake Kakashi, he couldn’t help but think of her whenever he sees that character which ended up with him buying a Naruto game even though he doesn’t really watch anime. Or how he would get somehow irritated when Anka would ruffles Lev’s hair which made him blush (Kenma’s sure that Anka’s oblivious to Lev’s blatant crush on her, she should stop doing that or the first year would get the wrong idea) or how Anka-</p>
<p>“Kenma?”</p>
<p>Kenma turned his head towards Kuroo to see the black haired guy looking at him with a confused look on his face. “Are you okay? If you’re not feeling well, then you can go home,” He said.</p>
<p>Kenma shakes his head. “I’m okay. I was just thinking about...” <em>Anka. </em>“...Nothing important,” He mumbles, irritated. Irritated that now his own thoughts are confusing him.</p>
<p><em>I don’t like this</em>, He thought. Socializing has always been hard for Kenma since he would get nervous and overly analyze the person who he’s socializing with. As much as Kenma dislikes to admit it, he does value what others think of him which is why he tends to be reserved in order to avoid any uncomfortable situations. But somehow, the nervousness he feels around Anka is <em>different </em>towards what he usually feels. <em>There’s a word for it, you know. Kuroo talked about it before</em>. The memory of Kuroo rambling about his first crush in the middle school popped up on his mind.</p>
<p><em>No, </em>He huffed. <em>Anka is my first female friend. That’s probably why I’m like this</em>. Kenma thought. <em>After all, having a crush on a friend doesn’t always end up well. And I don’t want to ruin my friendship with Anka.</em></p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kuroo stares at Kenma in confusion. Although that confusion turned into realization when his cheeks redden.</p>
<p><em>He’s probably thinking about Anka. </em>Kuroo holds back a snickers as he sees the way Kenma frowns in deep thought. The third-year feels happy seeing how things turned out lately. Playing matchmaker between Kenma and Anka was not his main purpose of pushing the two to become close, he just thought it would be a good idea for Kenma to branch out and befriend someone from the opposite gender since he barely interact with anyone. Other than Akane and Alisa, Yamamoto’s younger sister and Lev’s older sister, and their interactions only involve a greeting and maybe one or two words. Even though Kuroo has no problem with Kenma having a girlfriend, he doesn’t want to make him feel pressured therefore he instead decided to get Kenma to befriend Anka and let the boy do whatever he feels comfortable with.</p>
<p>It made him happy to see Kenma getting comfortable around Anka and then they become close friends, especially when he found out that Kenma is also close to Anka’s younger brother and that the three of them had played games together at some point. Anka is a considerate person and seems to care about Kenma’s feelings which made the pudding-haired boy comfortable around her. And as time passed, Kuroo slowly watched as their friendship turned into something <em>more </em>without the two realizing. Even though Anka never admitted anything to him, Kuroo is not blind to the girl’s sneaky glances towards his childhood friend or her blushing cheeks.</p>
<p>Though for these past few days, Kuroo thought that the girl might not be the only one feeling that way. It was hard to ignore when Kenma would also glances or even stares at the brunette girl, his blushing cheeks, and the way his mood seemed to went down when Anka stopped going home with them. What made it more obvious is the irritated expression on Kenma’s face whenever Anka would interact with Lev which often ended up with the first year’s blushing. <em>He has a crush on Anka. </em>Kuroo thought, happily. But knowing Kenma, it would take him some time to come to terms with his feelings. <em>Maybe I should help them</em>.</p>
<p>“By the way, Kenma,” He said. “I asked you to come because it’s been a while since the three of us hang out, so I thought it would be fun.” Kuroo shrugged.</p>
<p>“And you know I wouldn’t forced you if I thought you wouldn’t enjoy it,” He continued. “Also, Hanare would also come along. It would be fun to get to know Anka’s best friend.”</p>
<p><em>Oh, yeah. Hanare. </em>Kenma has never talked with Suzuki Hanare, Anka’s best friend, before. He saw her a few times at school but they never talked even though they were close with Anka. Kenma has also heard about Hanare a few times from Anka about how Hanare has become her first friend in Japan and is someone Anka views as her sister. Anka also mentioned a few times how she would want the four of them to hang out together. “Since the four of you are my closest friends,” She said to Kenma. When she said that smiling, he couldn’t help but smile at her. <em>I guess I’ll just give it a try.</em></p>
<p>“So, Kenma, are you coming?”</p>
<p>Kenma slings his bag over his shoulder. “Yeah, let’s go.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“Hanare is already there,” Anka said as she puts her phone back into her pocket. Kenma only responds with a nod without looking up from his PSP. The three high school students are currently on the train on their way to the mall. On their way to the mall, the three conversed with each other since they barely interact outside of practice these past week aside from their usual walk to school and usually it’s still too early for them to talk a lot with each other.</p>
<p>Anka doesn’t realize how much she missed hanging out with Kuroo and Kenma until they finally hang out together again today. She missed listening to the somehow calming sound of Kenma’s game because the sound, although sometimes it kinda bothers her, is a sign that Kenma is with her which makes Anka happy. She missed listening to Kuroo’s teasing which usually ended up with Kenma scolding him in his usual reserved voice. She missed them.</p>
<p>“We’re close,” Kuroo said. Kenma turned off his PSP before putting it into his bag. When the train arrived at their spot, the three got off the train to continue their walk to the mall.</p>
<p>It takes less than five minutes for them to arrive at the mall. Since it’s weekend, the mall is more crowded than it usually is. “Anka, where is she?” Kuroo asked.</p>
<p>Kenma turned to see the girl tiptoeing, trying to see more clearly above the other visitors. Kenma holds back a chuckle when Anka loses her balance and grasped Kenma’s hoodie. “Sorry,” She mumbles. Kenma only shakes his head as a respond. “By the way, I think I see her by the fountain.”</p>
<p>Anka walks ahead of the two boys as they make their way to the fountain in the middle of the mall’s open space.</p>
<p>“’Nare!” A green-haired girl in a white top and jeans turned towards them and instantly smiles at the sight of Anka walking towards her.</p>
<p>“Anka!” As soon as Anka is within reach, Hanare pulled her into a hug. “I miss you!” Anka giggles. “We just met yesterday. What do you mean?”</p>
<p>Hanare opened her mouth to say something but then gets cut off by a cough. Anka grins as she turned her head towards Kuroo and Kenma.</p>
<p>“Right, Hanare. Let me introduce you to my friends from the volleyball club!” Anka slings her arm through Hanare’s before gesturing towards the two boys. “This one is Kuroo Tetsuro, he’s the captain,” Kuroo and Hanare shakes hand for a second. Then Anka gestures towards Kenma. “And he is,” Their eyes meet for a second and Anka’s eyes <em>might </em>just turned a bit brighter. “He is Kozume Kenma, the team’s setter.”</p>
<p>Kenma lifts his gaze towards Hanare’s and their eyes meet for a second before he lowered his gaze again when he sees the frown on her face.</p>
<p>A few seconds passed and neither Hanare or Kenma said anything. Anka turned her head towards Hanare with a frown on her face to see her friend’s staring at Kenma, seemingly deep in thought. “Hanare?” The sound of Anka’s voice seems to brought the girl out of her reverie. Hanare blinks for a few seconds before a smile grows on her face. “Hello, Kozume-san! I’m Suzuki Hanare. Nice to meet you,” Hanare reaches out a hand towards Kenma. Kenma shakes her hand and he lifts his gaze once again to meet hers (He doesn’t want Hanare to think that he’s disrespectful. “Kenma,” He mumbles.</p>
<p>“Anyway, it’s nice to meet the boys who had stolen my Anka,” Hanare grins as she pulls the brunette closer. Anka rolls her eyes. “Hanare, be nice.”</p>
<p>“It was just a joke,” Hanare said. She pinches Anka’s cheeks resulting in a protest from Anka.</p>
<p>“Guys,” Kuroo’s voice caught their attention. “What if we have lunch first before buying anything? It’s lunch time now,” He said.</p>
<p>Hanare nods. “That would be a great idea. Let’s go!” Hanare started walking while pulling Anka alongside her. Anka, surprised by the girl’s action, stumbled for a second before she tries to follow Hanare’s fast footsteps.</p>
<p>Kenma frowns at the sight of Anka’s little stumble. He and Kuroo had stepped forward for a second, just in case if she falls. But Hanare seemed oblivious to what is happening and continues to walk while pulling Anka along.</p>
<p>Slowly, Kenma started regretting his choice to come along with Kuroo, Anka and Hanare. The green-haired girl seemed to dislike Kenma and they had just met for the first time today. <em>Maybe you’re just looking too much into things, </em>A part of him thought. But then, the way Hanare stares at him and how her joke seems to mean anything but a joke added doubt into his mind.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The four teenagers decided to have lunch at the foodcourt before they started shopping for the upcoming Interhigh Tournament. Fortunately, unlike her earlier worries, Kuroo and Hanare got along nicely and they conversed without Anka needing to input herself into the conversation. <em>Although, </em>Anka turned her head towards Kenma who is eating his lunch quietly, <em>Kenma doesn’t seem to enjoy it so much. </em>And the fact that Hanare doesn’t really try to involve Kenma in the conversation is not helping either.</p><p>“Anka,” Anka turned her had towards Hanare. “Hm?”</p><p>“Your sauce,” Hanare gestures towards Anka’s hand. Anka lets out a squeal when she sees the sauce from her hamburger dripping off of her hand. “Oh no.” Anka quickly wipes her hand with a tissue. Hanare rolls her eyes at Anka. “Pay attention to your surroundings, Anka,” Anka only grins at her. “By the way,” Hanare turned towards Kuroo. “I was worried at first about Anka becoming the team’s manager because I was worried if the members will treat her badly. So I’m glad to see that everyone is nice to Anka... right?”</p><p>Kuroo snickers. “You don’t need to worry about that. Everyone in our team <em>loves </em>Anka, her presence is practically a blessing to us all.”</p><p>Hanare nods. “That’s good then,” Hanare takes a sip of her soft drink as she stares at Kuroo and finally her eyes land on Kenma. “So... Are you guys the closest to her or what?” Hanare asked. Kuroo shrugs. “I guess,” He said. But then, a mischievous look grow on his face. “Although,” He nudges Kenma. “Kenma is the <em>closest </em>to Anka between all of us,” Kuroo said. Kenma glances towards Kuroo, irritated. Also hoping that his face wouldn’t do that warm thingy it usally do whenever Anka is involved. “I’m close to Anka just like how the other members are close with her,” Kenma said as he stabs his fork into his cheesy fries.</p><p>Meanwhile, Anka’s cheeks has also gotten red when her gaze meets Kuroo’s. The suspicious look Hanare has as she glances between her and Kenma. “Well um, anyway,” Hanare said, her stare lasts on Kenma for another second before she smiles at Kuroo. “I’m happy to hear that Anka has a lot of new friends,” Hanare slings her arm around Anka’s chair while pulling it closer. “As long as you don’t forget your bestfriend. Right, Anka?” Anka rolls her eyes at Hanare. “Of course not. Don’t be stupid.”</p><p>After that, they continue to eat their lunch and Hanare has continued her conversation with Kuroo. Meanwhile, Kenma lets out a quiet sigh as he tries to focus on his fries, trying to ignore the glances Hanare gives him every few seconds.</p><p>***</p><p>Kenma tightens his grip around the bag containing the medicines they have bought to restock the team’s First Aid Box. They finally finished buying all the things Anka wrote on the list she brought and also picked up the team’s reverse jerseys. The shopping took around an hour and all Kenma wants to do now is to lay on his bed and never leave his bed again. After they finished shopping, Hanare and Anka went straight to the bookstore since Hanare said she has some things she needs to buy. Meanwhile, Kenma and Kuroo are walking around searching for a place where they could sit and hang out for a while.</p><p>“What do you think about some ice cream?” Kuroo asked as he gestures towards a familiar ice cream shop they once had gone to with his free hand. Kenma only shrugs as a respond before making his way to the ice cream shop with Kuroo following behind him. The two boys decided to sit at a table outside of the ice cream shop so the girls could see them easily. As soon as they sit down, a waitress come and give them their menus. Kuroo sighs as he stretches on his seat. The boy pulling the bag containing their jerseys closer to his feet so he would not forget it before looking at the menu in front of him. “The usual?” Kuroo asked.</p><p>Kenma nods. The black-haired boy has memorized Kenma’s favorite ice cream color after years of friendship. “Okay. I thik I’ll order banana split. What about the girls?”</p><p>“Anka likes strawberry,” Kenma said, remembering that time the Nekome team went to an ice cream joint. “Huh?” Kenma looks up from the menu to see a teasing grin on Kuroo’s face. “You know Anka’s favorite flavor?” Kenma rolled his eyes. “Yeah. She told me when we went to the ice cream joint,” He said. “<em>Sure,</em>” Kenma squints his eyes at the older male and received no response from Kuroo who continue reading the menu, the teasing grin still on his face. “So a strawberry ice cream for Anka. And what about Hanare?” Kuroo asked. Kenma shrugs. “It’s my first time meeting her. How am I supposed to know?” Kenma grumbles.</p><p>Kuroo chuckles. “Okay then. Let’s just let her choose it herself,” He said before raising his hand to call the waitress.</p><p>When the waitress arrived at their desk, the older male tells both of their orders. “Oh um,” Kuroo looks at him in confusion and slight surprise, it’s rare for Kenma to order himself whenever they hang out together. “One strawberry ice cream, please,” He said with his usual reserved voice. The waitress nods before going to the counter to input their order. Meanwhile, Kuroo stares at Kenma making the boy squirms uncomfortably. “Shut up, Kuroo,” He said. “I didn’t say anything,” Kuroo said. “But I know you’re going to say something.”</p><p>“Well, I’m sorry I was just surprised to see you talk to the waitress.”</p><p>“I can order for myself you know. It’s not like I can’t talk.”</p><p>“Yes. But all the time we’ve been friends, I was the one who always ordered for the both of us.” Kenma shrugs. “Maybe I’m just in the mood to order myself.”</p><p>“<em>Really</em>?”</p><p>Kenma sighs. “It’s not that deep, Kuroo. Just let it go,” He said as he takes out his PSP and start playing his games. “Hey, it’s just interesting to see you doing things you usually didn’t do whenever it involves Anka,” Kuroo propped up his cheek with his hands while staring at his friend with a teasing smile. “Is there something I should know?” He asked. “No,” Kenma answered without looking up from his screen. “Okay,” Kuroo said without taking his eyes off of Kenma. A few seconds passed before Kenma paused his game and look up at his friend in annoyance. “What is it, Kuroo?”</p><p>“I’m not saying anything,” Kuroo shrugs as he leans back on his seat. “But you’re still <em>loud,</em>” Kenma said.</p><p>“Well now that you say that, I have something to say,” Kuroo said. Kenma looks at him silently with a questioning look on his face. “I have no problems if you and Anka become a couple.” Kenma certainly did <em>not </em>expect that. Yes, he is not that oblivious to miss the way Kuroo keeps teasing him about Anka. But he did not expect Kuroo would directly say anything about it to him. “We’re just friends, Kuroo,” He said before continuing his game. “Nothing’s gonna happen.” Kuroo tilts his head slightly with a smile. “Well, who knows?” Kenma opened his mouth to say something when a familiar voice caught his attention.</p><p>“Hi, Guys! Sorry if we take long!” Anka said before approaching them. “No worries!” Kuroo said. “Hanare, you can sit here!” Kuroo gestures towards the empty seat beside him.</p><p>Kenma squints his eyes at the black-haired male who responds with a grin. “Kenma,” Kenma turned his head towards Anka. “Do you mind if I sit here?”</p><p>Kenma shook his head before pulling back the empty chair beside him after pausing his game for a while. Anka grins at him before taking a seat. “Thank you!” Meanwhile, Hanare huffed as she sits beside Kuroo. “Come on, I’m not <em>that </em>bad,” Kuroo said. Hanare rolls her eyes at him. “Sitting with Anka is always better,” She said before taking one of the menu. “Anka, do you want strawberry ice cream or what?”</p><p>“Oh, you don’t have to order anything, Anka. Kenma already ordered strawberry ice cream for you. He said it’s your favorite?” Kuroo said.</p><p>The brunette nods before grinning at Kenma. “Thank you! And I appreciate how you remember my favorite flavor.” She said. “It’s not that big of a deal,” Kenma said, glancing towards Anka for a second before continuing his game. “Wait, you know her favorite flavor?” Hanare asked. “Yeah,” Anka said, slightly confused. “We did go to an ice cream joint with the whole team,” She explained. Hanare only shrugs before finally ordering an ice cream to the waitress.</p><p>It doesn’t take long for their order to arrive and Hanare’s ice cream arrive not long after that. Kenma finally puts down his game, after Kuroo gives him a warning glare, and started enjoying his ice cream. “Kenma,” Anka said. Kenma turned his head towards her and shots her a questioning look. “Do you want to try mine? It’s really good,” Anka said, a shy smile on his face. <em>Damn she looks cute, </em>Kenma thought before nodding. Anka pushes her ice cream cup towards Kenma who scoops a little bit of it with his spoon. Kenma nods when the sweet strawberry taste fills his mouth as soon as he take a bite. “Yeah, it’s good,” Kenma said before pushing his cup towards Anka too. “Here. Try mine,” Anka nods, the smile still on her face, before scooping the ice cream with her spoon.</p><p>Anka’s eyes scrunched up in delight when the combination with the sweet vanilla flavor and also the oreo cookies fills her mouth. “It’s really good!”</p><p>Kenma feels his cheeks warming up seeing the expression on her face. He takes his eyes off of Anka to continue eating his ice cream. “The vanilla and oreo flavor combination from this ice cream shop is my favorite,” He said. “Oh, so you guys went here before?” She asked. Kenma nods. “A few times.” A question popped up on his mind. “By the way, I notice that you don’t really bite your ice cream. Why?” He asked. Anka grins at him. “My teeth are sensitive so if I do bite it with my teeth, it’s basically a torture for me.” Kenma frowned at her. He opened his mouth to say something when it got cut off by Hanare.</p><p>“Anka,” Anka turned her head to look at Hanare. “Do you want to try mine as well?” She asked. Anka looks at her friend’s ice cream for a second before nodding. Although before she could do anything, the green-haired girl had pushed a spoonful of ice cream to her lips to feed her. Anka opened her mouth to let it in and stares at her friend in slight confusion. <em>Why does she look upset? </em></p><p>Meanwhile, Kenma continues eating his ice cream in silence. Slightly upset getting cut off since it made him feel uncomfortable whenever it happens, feeling like every eyes are on him. Well, now the only eyes’ that are on him are Kuroo’s, who stares at him for a few seconds before turning to look at Hanare with a frown on his face.</p><p>“Hanare, are you alright?” Anka asked, worried. “Huh?” Anka stares at her for a few more seconds. “You don’t look good. Do you want to go home now?”</p><p>Hanare sighs. “Actually ye-“</p><p>“Kenma-san! Anka-san! Kuroo-san!”</p><p>Anka turned her head to see a familiar grey-haired tall boy jogging towards them with one hand waving excitedly towards their table. “Lev!” Anka grins as she excitedly waves back towards him when the sight of someone slightly familiar to her caught her attention. Behind Lev, a tall blonde gorgeous woman in a green dress walking towards them. <em>Is that Lev’s sister? </em>Anka thought, thinking back to that time when Lev showed her a picture of his older sister. Haiba Alisa. Anka’s eyes widened. <em>She’s even more beautiful in real life</em>.</p><p>“Hello! It’s so good to see you guys here!” Lev said as he stopped his steps in front of their table. His eyes lingered on Anka before looking at the others.</p><p>Meanwhile, Anka’s attention is still on Alisa who is right now standing beside Lev and in front of Anka. “Hi! I’m sorry if we bother you. My little brother was too excited when he saw you guys and he went straight here,” Alisa said with a smile. Then, her eyes landed on Anka. “Oh are you Hirai Anka?” <em>She knows me, </em>Anka stands up quickly before bowing.</p><p>“Yes. I’m Hirai Anka. But you can call me Anka. It’s nice to meet you, Haiba-san,” She said. Alisa laughes bashfully as she waves her hand in front of her. “Oh, please. Drop the formalities. Just call me Alisa.”</p><p>“Haiba-san, it’s so nice to meet you again,” Kuroo said with a grin. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you again too, Kuroo-san and Kenma-san!” Suddenly, the boy stand up and quickly grab a chair before putting it right beside Anka. “Please take a seat.”</p><p>Anka rolls her eyes. <em>Boys when they see beautiful girls</em>, She thought. Although, she couldn’t blame Kuroo since her body have stiffened when Alisa sits on the empty chair beside her. <em>Wait, Kenma is also a boy</em>, Anka thought, panicked. Although so far, she never saw Kenma participated in the boys fangirling over Lev’s sister, Alisa’s picture has certainly didn’t do her any justice and <em>maybe he thought the same thing</em>. Anka glances towards Kenma slightly expecting him to be staring at Alisa but instead, his eyes are already on her making her cheeks redden. “An, why are you so stiff?” Kenma asked. Anka only laughs awkwardly before ignoring his question completely. <em>At least it doesn’t seem like he’s interested in Alisa.</em></p><p>“Thank you!” Alisa’s voice caught her attention.</p><p>“Kuroo-san, why do you only grab one chair for my sister?” Lev whined. “Well, you can grab one yourself right?”</p><p>Lev grabs a chair before sitting between Alisa and Hanare while muttering something under his breath, too low for them to hear. “By the way, Anka-san,” Lev grins at her. “I’m really happy to meet you here! Are you guys shopping together or what?” Anka nods. “Yeah. We were shopping to prepare for the upcoming tournament and also to pick up the team’s jerseys.”</p><p>Alisa claps her hands excitedly. “Woah! That sounds exciting! I hope my Lyovochka will get a chance to play in the competition!”</p><p>Anka frowns. “Lyovochka?” Alisa turned her head to smile at Anka, making Anka nervous. “Anka, relax,” She could hear Kenma whispered from beside her which Anka chose to ignore. “That’s Lev’s nickname!” She said. “Oh,” Alisa looks at Kuroo. “How is Lev on the team? Is he good?” She asked. Anka turned her head towards Kuroo whose grin has stiffened slightly as he seems to contemplate something. “Well, he has been improving since the first time he joined. But there’s always some room for improvement,” Kuroo said without losing the grin on his face.</p><p>“That’s good to hear!” Alisa said. “I hope he’ll improve more and will be able to play in a match soon!”</p><p>After that, a waitress comes to input Alisa and Lev’s orders who both decided on a banana split. “By the way, Anka-chan, I’m really happy to finally meet you,” And then, she grins teasingly at her brother. “Lyovochka has told me a lot about you!” Lev lets out sounds of protest which got ignored by Alisa. “Um, I hope he told you nice things about me,” Anka said as she glances at Lev whose cheeks had now gotten redder. Anka is not exactly oblivious to the crush that the first-year has on her but Anka chose to say nothing about it since she doesn’t want to make things awkward and also because of her recent realization of her feelings for Kenma.</p><p>Alisa nods. “Yeah. He told me how beautiful you are and how your presence has certainly pushed him to practice harder!” Alisa said.</p><p>Anka only laughs as a respond as she glances around the table, searching for help since she doesn’t know how to react to that. “I’m honored to hear that,” Anka finally said.</p><p>Finally, Hanare who has been silent the whole time decided to speak. “I’m surprised to hear how much attention my Anka has gathered,” She said making Anka’s cheeks reddened. Hanare only glances at her before extending a hand to Alisa. “Hi! I’m Suzuki Hanare, Anka’s bestfriend,” She said. Alisa smiles. “I’m Haiba Alisa! It’s nice to meet you!” Hanare only responds with a nod. “Anyway,” Kuroo said. “Anka is quite popular between the team members. And I think ever since she became the team’s manager, Anka has become quite known around the students too,” He said while winking at Anka, turning the girl’s cheeks redder. “You’re exaggerating.”</p><p>Kuroo shakes his head. “No, I’m not. Anyway, seeing how you seem to get popular lately, I can’t help but question,” He glances at Kenma who’s silent the whole time and has continued playing his game. “What is your type in men?” Kuroo asked.</p><p><em>Kenma. </em>That was what crossed her mind but instead, Anka only waves her hands around awkwardly. “I don’t know-I mean-I never thought about that before.” She said with an awkward laugh. “Well, what about your anime crush? I guess we could consider that your type,” Kuroo said. “Oh um,” A few seconds passed as Anka gathered her thoughts. “I like Hatake Kakashi from Naruto.” Kuroo lets out a grimace at that before he leaned back on his chair. “That’s tough, Kenma,” The mentioned boy looked up at Kuroo in surprised while Anka silently wishes the ground would swallow her. “Kuroo,” He said with a threatening tone.</p><p> “By the way, Anka-san,” Lev said. Anka lets out a relieved sigh, wishing that Lev would change to topic from her. “Do you have any problem with dating younger guys?”</p><p>The table went silent after that question left Lev’s mouth. Although the silence doesn’t take very long and is broken by the sound from Kenma’s PSP announcing his defeat. “Shit,” The boy grumbles before realizing that the whole table’s attention has turned to him. “I’m sorry,” He said before continue playing his game. “Anka-san,” Anka turned towards Lev. “Is that a wrong question to ask?” He asked with a look mixed with regrets and guilt and also dejection on his face. Anka’s expression instantly went soft at that. “Oh no, it’s okay,” She said. “It’s just that, um, I’ve never thought about that before.”</p><p>Lev’s expression lightened up. “So that means you’re not really opposed to the idea of dating someone’s younger right?”</p><p>Anka shrugs. “I guess,” She said, biting her lip when Lev lets out an excited sound. Meanwhile, Alisa bows slightly to the whole table. “I’m so sorry for my brother,” She said. Anka instantly grabs her shoulders trying to keep her upright. “No, there’s nothing to be sorry for, Alisa-san!” But Alisa keeps on apologizing, seemingly sorry for how the atmosphere at the table has become awkward since her brother’s question. Anka glances at Hanare who puts her glass on the table only a little bit louder than usual before focusing on Alisa who’s still apologizing. <em>Is Hanare okay?</em></p><p>Meanwhile, Kuroo only stares silently at Kenma with a look of understanding and compassion which got ignored by the pudding-haired boy who’s pressing the buttons on his PSP harsher than he usually does that Kuroo is slightly worried that the buttons would fall off. <em>He’s jealous and he doesn’t realize it. </em></p><p>“Excuse me.”</p><p>Suddenly, a voice caught all of their attention. The waitress, who’s standing in front of their table holding a tray with two banana splits, seems taken aback by the way the whole table suddenly stares at her in silence. A few seconds passed before the waitress finally speaks up.</p><p>“Here’s your banana splits. Please enjoy.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kenma sighs as he plops himself onto his bed. His mind replaying today’s event. Precisely, the talk they had at the ice cream shop.</p>
<p>“<em>By the way, Anka-san, do you have any problem with dating younger guys?”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>The table went silent after that question left Lev’s mouth. Although the silence doesn’t take very long and is broken by the sound from Kenma’s PSP announcing his defeat. “Shit,” The boy grumbles before realizing that the whole table’s attention has turned to him. “I’m sorry,” He said before continue playing his game. “Anka-san,” Anka turned towards Lev. “Is that a wrong question to ask?” He asked with a look mixed with regrets and guilt and also dejection on his face. Anka’s expression instantly went soft at that. “Oh no, it’s okay,” She said. “It’s just that, um, I’ve never thought about that before.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Lev’s expression lightened up. “So that means you’re not really opposed to the idea of dating someone’s younger right?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Anka shrugs. “I guess,” She said, biting her lip when Lev lets out an excited sound.</em>
</p>
<p>Kenma groans as he buries his face in his pillow. Somehow, Anka’s nervous face and the hopeful look on Lev’s face bother him so much. He doesn’t know why but he feels <em>irritated </em>by it. <em>What if Lev asks Anka out after this? What if she accepts and then they started dating? That means they will hold hands and hug each other and even </em>kiss <em>each other</em>. Once again, Kenma lets out a groan as he shakes his head, trying to get rid the image of Lev and Anka kissing from his mind. But Anka is nothing more than his friend, he has no reason to be this irritated just by the idea of Anka dating his junior.</p>
<p><em>Oh shut up. Don’t act as if you feel nothing for her, </em>A part of his mind yells at him. <em>You’re attracted to her and you know it. You just chose to ignore it and it’s time to face it.</em></p>
<p>Kenma does realize, albeit it takes quite some time, that what he feels for Anka is more than what he should feel for a friend. He just decided to push that thought aside because Anka is his first female friend that he feels the comfortable with and he’s worried that he’s just mistaking it as a crush. Kenma doesn’t have prior experiences about crushing on someone which makes it harder for him to understand his own feelings. Although it seems that Kuroo understands him more than he does, shown by his teasing and understanding smile whenever he sees Kenma and Anka. And his reaction to Lev’s question was an obvious sign of his feelings, whether he likes it or not. </p>
<p>But of course, like usual, Kenma decided to push it aside. Other than his confusion towards his own feelings, he also doesn’t want to ruin their friendship.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Kuroo said nothing about what happened in the ice cream shop on the way home. He could probably see the inner turmoil Kenma had since that talk.</p>
<p>It was easier to act as if nothing happened but now that Lev had become more obvious of his crush on Anka, it certainly is harder for Kenma to push aside his feelings.</p>
<p><em>If I do have a crush on her, then things would probably get awkward and she would be uncomfortable around me and at the end she would ignore me. I don’t want that to happen, </em>He thought, worried. <em>And if I confess to her and things don’t work out, things would probably get even more </em>awkward <em>between us. We wouldn’t even be friends anymore</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>But how would I know if I don’t try?</em>
</p>
<p>Kenma bites his lip as he stares at the ceiling in silence. <em>What should I do?</em></p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Kuroo yawns as he lays on his bed. Today is Sunday and like usual, he just finished his morning workout and breakfast. He closes his eyes as he contemplates on what to do next. <em>Should I just go back to sleep? </em>Kuroo thought. Before he could contemplate further, the vibration of his phone caught his attention. The black-haired boy reaches out blindly for his phone, too lazy to even open his eyes. He opened his eyes to look at his phone screen. A frown grow on his face when his black eyes focuses on the name on his screen. <em>Kenma?</em></p>
<p>Kuroo opened the text message he had received from Kenma. Usually, it is Kuroo who texts him first so it is uncommon for him to received a message from the setter.</p>
<p>
  <em>From : Kenma</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Can you come over?</em>
</p>
<p>Simple as how Kenma usually texts him. But somehow, that one simple text is enough for Kuroo to know what Kenma wanted from him.</p>
<p>When he arrived at Kenma’s house, the boy is busy playing on his Playstation and doesn’t seem to acknowledge his arrival until Kuroo sits down beside him. “Hi.”</p>
<p>Kenma glances at him for a second before focusing once again on his game. “Hi,” He said. “Let me finish this round.” Kuroo nods and waits patiently as his friend finishes his game. Kuroo couldn’t help but smile when he notices how Kenma seems to be less focused on his game, as if something’s on his mind. <em>It’s strange to see Kenma like this</em>, He thought.</p>
<p>It doesn’t take long for Kenma to finish his game. When he finally defeats the last monster and pass the level, Kenma saved his game before putting down his controller.</p>
<p>Kenma glances at Kuroo before staring straight ahead once again at his television screen, his hands entwined with each other. “So-“</p>
<p>“Anka?”</p>
<p>Kenma turns his head to look at Kuroo with wide eyes before finally sighing and nods.</p>
<p>After years of friendship, Kenma feels like sometimes Kuroo understands him better than himself does. And that’s shown by Kuroo seems to realize the true nature of Kenma’s feelings towards Anka before he does.</p>
<p>Last night, he couldn’t sleep as he tried to sort out his feelings towards Anka. His mind replayed every moment he spent with Anka and honestly, it didn’t take long for him to realize that he does have a crush on Anka. It also didn’t take long for him to realize that what made him confused this whole time is his own denial towards his feelings. After Kenma finally accepts the fact that he does have a crush on Anka, everything seems clearer to him. And so, today Kenma woke up with a feeling that he tried to avoid previously. <em>I have a crush on Hirai Anka.</em></p>
<p>Kuroo stares silently at his friend. “Are you going to do anything about it?”</p>
<p>A few seconds passed before Kenma shakes his head, followed by a shrug. “I don’t know,” He mumbles. “I feel like the risks are too big,” He said. “What if she doesn’t feel the same way or if she does and things don’t work out? Things would probably get awkward and she would ignore me. Or worse, we would stop being friends.”</p>
<p>“Well, for one, I’m 100% sure that your feelings are reciprocated,” Kuroo said causing Kenma to look at him with wide eyes. “How could you be so sure?”</p>
<p>Kuroo rolls his eyes. “I’m not <em>blind</em>. The signs are all there,” He waves his hand around. “And,” He looks at Kenma. “How would you know if you don’t try?”</p>
<p>Kenma stiffened. Those are the same words that went through his mind last night. <em>But he’s true though. </em></p>
<p>Kuroo shrugs. “Is there a possibility that things might not work out and ruins your friendship with her? Yes. But there is also the possibility of things working out between you two and maybe the two of you will, I don’t know, get married.”</p>
<p>“Kuroo, too far.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry. My point is, you won’t know unless you give it a try. I think it’s better for you to just take the risk rather than doing nothing and questioning about what could’ve been,” Kuroo said. “After all, what if Lev asks her on a date and they start dating? Are you ready to see that?” Kuroo asked. They both know the answer to that. <em>No. </em></p>
<p>“And even if Lev doesn’t ask her out, I was serious when I said that the other students started to notice her more ever since she became our manager. At least one person would have the courage to ask her out and she’s single, she’s free to date anyone she wants. The question is,” Kuroo’s gaze meet Kenma’s. “Are you ready to see Anka with someone else?” Kuroo asked.</p>
<p>“You know the answer to that,” He mumbles.</p>
<p>If Anka would date someone, he wants that someone to be him. If someone’s going to hold Anka’s hand, he wants that to be him. If Anka needs someone to listen to her, he wants that to be him. If Anka needs someone who would hug her, watch <em>Naruto </em>with her for countless times, and someone who would be there for her when she’s happy and also when she’s sad, Kenma wants to be that person. Kenma wants to be with Anka. And if he doesn’t do anything about it, that chance to be with her will just slip past his fingers without him noticing until it’s too late and all he could do is to regret it.</p>
<p>“Kenma, life is unexpected. You never know what will happen tomorrow, next week. Hell, even we don’t know what will happen tonight. So,” Kuroo shrugs. “Take a risk.”</p>
<p>Kuroo stares at his friend in silence while the pudding-haired boy seems to be in deep thought. He had said enough and now, it’s up to Kenma to choose the next step.</p>
<p>“Kuroo,” Kuroo hums. Kenma lifts his gaze until their eyes meet. “How should I ask Anka out on a date?”</p>
<p>Kuroo grins, satisfied by his friend’s answer. “Don’t worry, My Friend,” He slings his arm around Kenma’s shoulder. “I’ll create an opening for you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“You should be more obvious about your feelings for her, show her some signs that you care about her and not in a platonic way. That way, if Anka caught on to your signs, then maybe she will also become more obvious on her feelings for you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kenma frowns at the third-year boy. “But what if she doesn’t? And why are you talking as if you’re sure that Anka has feelings for me?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kuroo rolls his eyes before ruffling Kenma’s hair, earning a protest from the younger male. “Just trust me, Kenma.”</em>
</p>
<p>The sound from his PSP announcing the defeat of his character brought Kenma out of his reverie. He was too caught up in recalling the conversation he had with Kuroo yesterday that he forgot the fact he was playing on his PSP. In slight annoyance, the pudding-haired boy pressed the replay button on his PSP harsher than he usually does. Thinking about Anka and the upcoming confession he had planned always managed to make him nervous. After his conversation with Kuroo yesterday, he decided to confess to Anka on Wednesday. That way, Kenma hoped, Lev wouldn’t get the chance to confess before him. That means he has one day to prepare mentally.</p>
<p>“Why is confessing so damn hard to do?” He mumbles without stopping the fast movements of his fingers as he defeat the monsters in the game.</p>
<p>“Oy, Kenma, focus more on your surroundings or you’ll walk into a wall,” Kuroo called out. Kenma only huffed as he stopped walking to let the black-haired boy caught up to him.</p>
<p>Kuroo only grins seeing the restless state his friend is in. “Nervous?” He asked. Kenma only respond is to glance at him with an expression that said ‘<em>What do you think?’</em>. Kuroo chuckled. “Calm down. I was just being a caring friend,” He said as he raises both of his hands. Kenma rolls his eyes and said nothing as they walk side by side to the gym.</p>
<p>“By the way,” Kuroo suddenly speaks up. “If it’s any consolation to you, I think you did great so far,” He continued. The third-year said nothing after that but Kenma understands what he said. He was referring to the efforts Kenma has made to be more <em>obvious </em>about his feelings. It’s nothing drastic to be honest. He just started to ask Anka more about her day and other random things, which now that Kenma thinks about it he has already done before through their texts and daily conversation, but it feels different now that he acknowledges his feelings for Anka. Kenma also bought a mango juice box, Anka’s favorite beside melon soda, and gave it to her during practices. That were the efforts he had made so far.</p>
<p>Fortunately, so far, Lev doesn’t seem like he’s confessing to Anka anytime soon. <em>Which is a good news for me, </em>Kenma thought.</p>
<p>The sound of Kuroo opening the door to the clubroom caught his attention. Kenma puts his PSP back into his pocket before entering the clubroom after Kuroo. Luckily, there is no one inside the clubroom so they could change into their jerseys in comfortable silence before making their way to the gym. Before he left the clubroom, Kenma made sure to bring the mango juice box he had bought.</p>
<p>Apparently, most of the members have arrived and they have gathered in the gym.</p>
<p>“Good afternoon, Kenma-san, Kuroo-san!” Kenma turned his head towards the source of the sound to find Lev sitting on a bench with Anka.</p>
<p>“Good afternoon,” Kenma said as he approaches the two teenagers, trying to ignore the irritated feeling growing inside him. Meanwhile, Kuroo only grins as he sees the slight irritated expression on his friend’s face. “Good afternoon!” Kuroo greets back happily.</p>
<p>Anka grins when Kenma finally stopped in front of them. “Hello, Kenma,” She greets before turning towards Kuroo. “Hi, Kuroo,” Kuroo takes a sit beside Anka and he slings his arm around her shoulders. “It’s nice to see you in this beautiful afternoon!” He said making Anka squints her eyes at him. “What?” He asks, innocently. “You’re suspicious,” Anka said. Kuroo only laughs. “Don’t mind about me,” Kuroo turned his head to Kenma who watches them silently. “My friend, Kenma, has something for you!”</p>
<p>Kenma glares at Kuroo when Anka and Lev’s attention has shifted towards him. The boy takes a deep breath before he handed the mango juice box he has been hiding behind his back to Anka. The girl lets out a happy gasp. “Thank you!” Kenma nods.</p>
<p>Kenma looks around as he contemplates whether he should play his games or approach Yamamoto instead when Anka speaks up. “Oh!”</p>
<p>Kenma turned to see the girl fumbling with her bag and smiles when she found something. “Here!” Kenma’s eyes widened when he sees the chocolate milk box in her hand.</p>
<p>“You’ve been really kind giving me my favorite drink and I think it’s unfair that I gave you nothing in return,” She said with a bright smile on her face. “I saw you drink it a few times so I think it’s your favorite. I hope you like it!” Kenma mumbles a ‘<em>thank you</em>’. What she meant by ‘a few times’ refers to the night hang outs they did during their short stay in Miyagi. A surge of happiness runs through him just by recalling the time they spent together.      </p>
<p>Kuroo grins as he glances between Kenma and Anka. Meanwhile, Lev glances between the three of them in confusion.</p>
<p>“Am I missing something?”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Practice went on like usual. Well, not really. Somehow Kenma feels like he has grown to be more aware of everything pertaining Anka. She would be talking with the other members and somehow the sound of her laugh tunes out every other sounds around him. The slightest touch of their hands is enough to make Kenma feel giddy. He finally understand why his team members’ spirits were easily lifted just by a smile from Anka because one smile from Anka is enough to make him feel like he could do anything. It’s cheesy and Kenma would never talk about it out loud but there is no use in denying what’s happening to him right now.</p>
<p>“Oy, Kenma,” Kenma turned his head to see Kuroo who just entered the club room. After practice finished, Kenma had left the gym first to quickly pack his stuff while Kuroo stayed behind to talk with Yaku and Kai. Meanwhile, Anka waits for them at the gym so they could go home together like usual. “I’m going to Yaku’s house for a team project with Kai too so I won’t be going home with you and Anka,” Kuroo wiggles his eyebrows to which the second-year responds with an eye roll. “What’s with the eye roll? I just gave you the perfect chance to get closer with Anka,” Kuroo said.</p>
<p>“Thank you, Kuroo,” Kenma said, slightly sarcastic. Kuroo only huffed before he ruffles Kenma’s hair.</p>
<p>“Kenma’s growing up. I’m so proud,” The black-haired boy wiped a non-existent tear from his eyes.   </p>
<p>“Shut up, Kuroo.” Kenma slungs his bag over his shoulder before saying goodbye to the rest of the members in the clubroom before making his way to the gym room.</p>
<p>Anka, who is waiting in front of the gym room’s door while texting on her phone, looks up and smiles when she sees Kenma’s approaching. “Hi!” She greets. “Where’s Kuroo?” Anka asks with a frown on her face. “He’s working on a team project with Kai and Yaku. So it will only be the two of us for today.” Suddenly, nervousness builds up inside of him when the realization that this would be their first time going home together wash over him. “If you’re okay with that,” He adds.</p>
<p>A laugh from Anka catches his attention. “Kenma, what are you talking about? Of course, I’m okay with that.”</p>
<p>The girl grabs Kenma’s arm before pulling him along. “Let’s go!”</p>
<p>The two teenagers walk in comfortable silence as they leave the school premises and to their home. Anka is still holding on to Kenma’s arm and after a deliberate consideration, the boy decided to say nothing despite the fast beating of his heart. With Anka’s hand holding his arm, Kenma can’t help but think about the confession that is going to happen tomorrow. <em>What if she rejects me and things get awkward? What if apparently she has crush on Lev all along? What if- </em></p>
<p>The sound of stomach growling brought Kenma out of his reverie. He turned to see Anka with her pinks flushed. “I’m so sorry! That was embarrassing!” Anka apologizes.</p>
<p>“It’s okay. That’s normal,” Kenma said. “It’s dinnertime and we still haven’t eaten anything.”</p>
<p>The sight of a convenience store caught Kenma’s eyes. “Do you want to buy some snacks?” He asked. Anka stares at the convenience store in silence as she mulls over it before finally, nodding her head. “Sure. I think I’ll buy cookies or something,” She answered. “Are you okay with that?” Kenma nods. And so, the two teenagers walk into the convenience store and continue their way home after buying some snacks. Anka happily bites into her cookies while Kenma drinks his apple juice, the corner of his eyes looking at the girl.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Anka lets out a sigh. “I miss eating Korean food,” She whines.</p>
<p>Kenma turned his head to look at her properly. “You don’t eat Korean food at home?” He asked. “I do, but rarely. My mom usually cooks Japanese food because of the catering business and all,” She said. “I do cook Korean food sometimes but ever since I joined the team, I’m just too lazy to do it since I prefer to just lay in bed,” Anka continued. Kenma only nods his head as his mind processes her words. “Anyway, forget about me, how was practice? I think Lev has improved immensely though,” Anka grimaces. “I notice he still hasn’t been able to sync with your toss.”</p>
<p>Kenma huffed before he started rambling about Lev and practices as they continue their way home side by side.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>This is it. Today is the day. </em>Kenma lets out a nervous sigh as he stares at Anka who is tidying up her stuff on the bench. <em>I’m confessing to Anka today. </em>He had been so worried over the confession that will happen today that he keeps getting defeated in his games because he couldn’t focus. Finally, Kenma decided to give up on playing his games today.</p>
<p><em>Is this the right decision? What if she rejects me? What if she rejects me and then </em>hate <em>me and things become awkward and we won’t be friends again and she w- </em>A clasp on his shoulder brought him out of his reverie. Kenma turned his head to see Kuroo standing behind him with a grin on his face. “Today is the day, right?” Kenma only nods before hopelessly looking at Anka who is currently talking with Inuoka.</p>
<p>“There’s no need to worry, Kenma,” Kuroo said, his arm slungs over Kuroo’s shoulder as he pulls him closer. “I’m sure that it’ll be great.”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to get my hopes up,” Kenma mumbles. He recalls back to the efforts he made to make his feelings more apparent but he wasn’t sure that Anka got it. Anka gave him chocolate milk boxes in return of the mango juice boxes he gave her, but Anka was just being her kind self. Kenma huffed. <em>I hate feelings</em>.</p>
<p>Kuroo chuckles as he watches Kenma’s inner turmoil. “Good luck, Kenma,” Kuroo said as he ruffles Kenma’s hair.</p>
<p>“Good luck for what?”</p>
<p>The two boys turned around to see Lev standing behind them with a bright smile on his face. <em>P</em><em>erfect timing, </em>Kenma thought in annoyance.</p>
<p>“Kenma will be doing something <em>big </em>and I was just wishing him good luck for that,” Kuroo said. Lev lets out an ‘Oh’ sound as he nods his head before turning to look at Kenma with an excited look on his face. “Good luck, Kenma-san!”</p>
<p>Kenma only nods and silently watches as Lev excused himself. Meanwhile, Kuroo is laughing because of the irony of the situation. “He won’t be saying that if he knows what the ‘big thing’ is,” Kuroo said in between laughs as he wipes a non-existent tear from his eyes. Kenma’s only response is to deadpan at his friend.</p>
<p>“Kuroo, Kenma!” Anka smiles as she approaches the two boys. Meanwhile, Kenma’s body has stiffened up as Anka gets closer. “Are you guys ready to go home?”</p>
<p>“I still need to finish that team project with Yaku and Kai. So for today,” Kuroo pulls Anka closer before wrapping his arms around their shoulders. “It’ll only be the two of you again today. Sorry, Anka.” Anka shook her head. “No worries! Good luck on your team project!” Kuroo nods before pushing the two towards the direction of the gym’s door. “Now go home, you two! Stay safe!”</p>
<p>The two teenagers walk alongside each other as they exit the gym. Anka waves towards Kuroo with a smile on her face before focusing forward. Meanwhile, Kenma do nothing as he stares at the ground in silence. Kenma continues to say nothing as they walk home together, letting the silence envelops the two of them. Although, it’s not the usual comfortable silence between them since the atmosphere seems a little bit tense somehow.</p>
<p>Anka frowns as she looks at Kenma with a worried look on her face. “Kenma, are you alright?” She asked. Kenma nods his head before looking at Anka briefly. “I’m alright.”</p>
<p>The brunette only nods as she stares silently at Kenma for a few second before a comforting smile grows on her face. “Okay. But if you ever need anything or just need someone you could talk to, I’m here for you,” Anka said. Kenma nods without looking at Anka. “Thank you, An.”</p>
<p>Hearing the nickname comes out of Kenma’s mouth, Anka’s face lightens up as she grins. “No problem, Kenma! You’re my friend and I care about you.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Well, I hope that status is not for long. Because if it means otherwise, that means she rejected me. Damn.</em>
</p>
<p>The two continues their walk in silence. Inside his head, Kenma is counting every step they took towards their usual lamppost where Kenma decided to confess. Although when the lamppost come into view, Kenma started questioning his decision. <em>It’ll be alright. Let’s just view it like a special mission from one of my games, </em>He thought.</p>
<p>When they finally reach the lamp post, Anka started waving as she continues towards her house. “Good night, Kenma! See you tomo-“</p>
<p>“Wait!” Anka stops on her tracks as she looks at Kenma with a questioning look.</p>
<p>But no voice comes out of Kenma’s mouth, he fumbles slightly as he tries to create a sentence in his head. <em>I’ve practiced but I forgot everything. What the hell. </em></p>
<p>Anka frowns as she looks at Kenma worriedly. “Are you okay?” Anka asks as she approaches him. “Are you si-“</p>
<p>“<em>I like you</em>.” Anka stops on her tracks when the words leave Kenma’s mouth. Anka blinks a few times as her mind processes Kenma’s words. <em>Is that clear enough? </em>Kenma thought.</p>
<p>A smile suddenly grows on Anka’s face. “I like you too, Kenma! You’re my friend!”</p>
<p>Kenma couldn’t help but huffed. “That’s <em>not </em>what I mean,” He said. Anka frowns. “Then, what do you mean?”</p>
<p>“<em>I like you</em>. I like you more than how a friend supposed to like their friend, and I <em>don’t mean</em> as best friends. I like you the way a boy likes a girl he has a crush on. Basically, I have a crush on you,” Kenma said in one breath. Anka’s eyes widened with each word coming out of Kenma’s mouth. The pudding-haired boy feels his heartbeats going faster more than he thinks possible that he started to get worried whether Anka could hear them or not. <em>Wait, I’m not finished, </em>He thought.</p>
<p>“So because of that, I would like to take you out on a date sometimes. But that’s only if you want to and you’re comfortable with it,” Kenma said. A few seconds passed and Kenma started panicking when Anka said nothing. “I totally understand if you don’t want to. But-“</p>
<p>“I would love to.”</p>
<p>This time, Kenma’s eyes widened as he stares at Anka. “...What?”</p>
<p>Anka laughs, her cheeks flushed and her eyes light up that it reminds Kenma of the stars scattering the night sky. “I would love to go out on a date with you.”</p>
<p>“Oh, thank you,” Kenma said. Anka nods as she laughes once again.</p>
<p>They both stand in silence as Kenma contemplates on what to do next.</p>
<p>“It’s getting late,” Anka suddenly said. “You should go home now.” Kenma nods. “Be careful, An.”</p>
<p>Anka nods as she started walking towards her house. “See you tomorrow, Kenma. Please be safe on your way home.”</p>
<p>“See you tomorrow, An,” Kenma said.</p>
<p>When Anka’s out of his sight, Kenma lets his shoulders relax before finally making his way home. The boy puts his hands inside his pocket and frown when his hand touches his PSP. <em>I forgot that I put it here all this time, </em>He thought as he takes out his PSP and turns on his PSP.</p>
<p>And for the first time today, Kenma could finally defeat the monsters in his games.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p><em>Noona</em>, why do you look like that?”</p>
<p>It takes a few more times of Minki calling his older sister’s name until finally the girl pay attention to him. “Hm?”</p>
<p>Minki frowns at the dreamy look on her face. “You’re scary,” Minki said. Anka only grins at him before ruffling his hair. “What do you mean by scary?” Anka asked.</p>
<p>“Just... scary. Did you hit your head or something?” Anka shook her head. “Nothing happened. Good night,” She said before going to her bedroom.</p>
<p>As soon as she closes the door, Anka throws her bag to the floor before laying on the bed. The girl buries her face to her pillow before letting out a squeal. <em>Kenma confessed to her. </em>The whole thing feels like a dream to her that she started questioning whether it really happens. <em>But it did. </em>Anka knows it did. Kenma did stand in front of her under that lamppost and confess to her. He did say that he has a crush on her and would like to take her out on a date. <em>It was real. </em></p>
<p>Never did Anka thought that this day would come. She wasn’t even sure if Kenma’s interested in her or not. Anka had let go of the possibility of all of that since she didn’t want to confess to him in fear of ruining their friendship. But at the end, she doesn’t need to do anything at all.</p>
<p>
  <em>I can’t wait for our first day. We’ll take pictures and hold hands and maybe even k-</em>
</p>
<p>Anka lets out another squeal before she could continue her imagination. Meanwhile, Minki is standing outside his sister’s door with his ear pressed into her door. He jumps a little when another squeal was heard. Minki sighs before finally going to his bedroom.</p>
<p>“Girls are scary.”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the confession, Kenma and Anka had gotten significantly closer than they were before and it doesn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the team. Although both Kenma and Anka never mentioned anything to the team about the change in their relationship, the way they look at each other and how they seem to be in their own world whenever they interact are enough for the team to realize that the relationship between the two teenagers have crossed the friendship border they used to have. But at the end, the members decided to not mention anything about that knowing how Kenma is uncomfortable with being the center of attention and because Kenma nor Anka hadn’t talked directly to them about their relationship. After all, they still have the Interhigh Tournament to worry about.</p><p>That silence went on for a few days until Lev broke it.</p><p>“Kenma-san, are you and Anka dating?” The first-year asked during one of their practice, resulting in the team being quiet in an instant.</p><p>Kenma stiffened up as the whole team’s attention is now directed towards him and Anka. Fortunately, Anka decided to speak up.</p><p>“Uhm well-“ The girl stares at Kenma in panic. It is only in that moment Kenma realizes that he hasn’t mentioned anything about their upcoming first date towards Anka.</p><p>“...Not yet,” Kenma said. Those two words are enough to make Anka blushes and the team to erupt in cheers.</p><p>“I can’t believe it. Kenma gets a girlfriend before <em>I </em>do,” Yamamoto cries as he puts Kenma into a headlock. “Kenma, don’t ever make Anka sad, okay?” Yaku said, his hand reaching out to ruffle Kenma’s hair. “Let me go. And we’re not dating <em>yet</em>,” Kenma grumbles but the team ignored that as they continue to celebrate. Meanwhile, Anka laughes awkwardly as she watches the commotion happening around her.</p><p>“Awww, Kenma-san asked you before I get the chance too,” Lev whines. Anka turned towards the first-year. “I’m sorry, Lev,” Anka said apologetically.</p><p>Lev shook his head. “No worries, Anka-san! Kenma-san is a good guy and I believe he will take good care of you.” Suddenly, a realization seems to wash over Lev. “By the way,” Lev turned towards Kenma who hasn’t freed himself from Yamamoto’s headlock. “Kenma-san, are you okay with me continue being friends with Anka-san?” Lev asked. Kenma stares at Lev in slight surprise and confusion, surprised by Lev asking for his permission and confused because why should he forbid the two from being friends? Kenma only nods as a response. “Thank you!” Lev said excitedly. Meanwhile, Anka only stares at the two in silence.</p><p>“Alright, alright, enough playing around,” Coach Naoi said as he blows his whistle. “Let’s continue practice in two more minutes!”</p><p>Finally, with Kuroo’s insistence, Kenma is freed from Yamamoto’s hold. The boy rubs his neck as he approaches Anka. Anka smiles at Kenma as she looks at his neck in slight worry. “Are you alright?” Kenma nods. “I’ll be okay. By the way, I know I haven’t talked to you about our first date. I’m sorry for that,” Anka shook her head. “No worries, Kenma. After all, we do still have the Interhigh Tournament coming up so we should just focus on that!”</p><p>“Yeah so because of that, I was thinking that maybe we should go on our first date after Interhigh ends. Do you have any problem with that?”</p><p>“No, that sounds like a good idea. I’m in!”</p><p>“Oy, Lovebirds, it’s time for practice!” Kuroo yells at them. Kenma rolls his eyes while Anka only grins shyly at Kuroo with flushed cheeks.</p><p>Anka turned to Kenma to hold up one hand and Kenma high-fives her hand after a few seconds. Before Kenma could brings his hand down, Anka holds his hand making their fingers entwined with each other’s and squeezes it a few times. “Good luck, Kenma!” The brunette said before finally releasing his hand, resulting in the team cheering at them. Kenma only nods before finally making his way to where the team has gathered with a happier mood than he was in moments earlier.</p><p>***</p><p>The rest of the week and the week after that was quite hectic because of the Interhigh Tournament. But Anka makes sure that she replied to Hanare’s texts whenever she could or else Hanare would send numerous texts and also ended up scolding her, which Anka honestly doesn’t need since it would just added to her worries. The green-haired girl didn’t seem happy too when Anka couldn’t spend a lot of time with her even after she came back from the leadership training despite knowing the reason behind it.  </p><p>Knowing how uncomfortable Kenma is being the center of attention, Anka had asked the team to say nothing about the confession to anyone outside the team. The brunette knows the news of the quiet gamer guy being close to a girl and not in a platonic way would be something that the students would talk about. It’s true that Anka has become more known since she became the team’s manager, but the girl knows that the thing that would attract the students to the news is Kenma. No matter how much he avoids being the center of attention, Kenma has become quiet known between the students as ‘the volleyball team’s quiet setter who always plays games’.</p><p>Watching Nekoma’s volleyball team play in real matches were entertaining and at the same time nerve wrecking. She couldn’t count how many times she almost jumped up from her seats during the matches or how her fingers gripped her pen tightly that her pen almost broke in two. But unfortunately, despite the team’s great teamwork and skills, Nekoma lost in the quarterfinals of Tokyo Prefecture Interhigh Preliminaries. Even without playing on the court alongside the team, their crestfallen looks were enough for Anka to almost cry but she held her tears back and instead gave an encouraging smile to the team.</p><p>Although, Kenma is slightly harder to read since he seemed nonchalant and when the girl had reached out to him, the only thing he said was : “It’s a game. Of course, someone will win and someone will lose.”</p><p>It wasn’t until later when Anka walked home with Kuroo and Kenma that she noticed the slight disappointment in Kenma’s eyes. Anka decided to say nothing and instead, she just wordlessly took his hand and squeezed it before parting ways with the two boys at their usual lamppost. The next day, Anka woke up early to make onigiri and prepare a personalized letter to each member. The happy smiles on their faces had made waking up early worthwhile for her.</p><p>Anka happily makes her way to her classroom alongside Kenma after they finished morning practice. When they approach Kenma’s class which is 2-3, Anka gives Kenma a goodbye wave before continuing her walk to her classroom which is right next to his.</p><p>“An,” Kenma’s voice caught her attention. The brunette stops her steps just before she could enter her classroom to look at Kenma with a questioning gaze. The boy opens his mouth but then quicky closes it again when he remembers that there are other students and so he quickly approaches Anka.</p><p>“About our date,” Kenma started. Anka’s cheeks instantly redden when the word ‘date’ leave his mouth. “Since Interhigh is finished, I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me this Saturday?” He asked.</p><p>“Yes, I’d love to!” Anka said excitedly. Kenma nods. “See you later, An,” He said with a small smile on his face before going to his class.</p><p>Meanwhile, Anka stands still in her place and only stares silently as Kenma enters his classroom. Even though their relationship has changed since Kenma confessed to her that day, his invitation for their first date just make everything seems even more real to her.</p><p>“Anka!” Anka blinks a few times before diverting her gaze to the source of the sound to find Hanare and Kazuki looking at her with a confused look on their face from their seats. “Why aren’t you coming in?” Hanare asked. Anka quickly enters her classroom and approaches her seat. “Good morning!”</p><p>Hanare nods, although with a suspicious look on her face. “What were you and Kenma talking about?”</p><p>Anka says nothing as she takes out her books to prepare for the first class. Hanare frowns at the brunette. “An-“</p><p>“Oh, come on, Hanare,” Kazuki groans. “They’re both on the volleyball team so it’s probably some volleyball related stuff.” But then, Kazuki’s expression changes when he notices Anka’s redden cheeks. “You know what. I’m actually curious too, what were <em>you </em>talking about?”</p><p>A few seconds passed and Anka says nothing. “Anka?”</p><p>Anka sighs. “It’s nothing important,” Anka mumbles.</p><p>“Your face says otherwise,” Kazuki teases.</p><p>“Anka,” Hanare calls her name once again, but this time with a slight warning in her voice. “You know I don’t like it when you hide things from me right?”</p><p>Anka bites her lip as she contemplates. She’s not sure whether she should tell them when nothing is official yet. That and she’s embarrassed to talk about it, hence why she avoids the topic. But Kazuki and Hanare are her friends and they deserve to know.</p><p>“Well, um,” Anka looks at her friends with blushing cheeks. “Kenma confessed to me,” She finally said.</p><p>A few seconds passed in silence until Kazuki breaks it. “OH MY GOD, CONGRA-“</p><p>“When?”</p><p>“It’s been a few weeks, he confessed before Interhigh.”</p><p>Hanare’s eyes widen. “And you didn’t tell me?” Hanare asked, her voice raising slightly in annoyance.</p><p>“Well,” Anka looks at her best friend in slight worry and fear. But Hanare doesn’t let her finish.</p><p>“We’ve been friends since we first came to this school, when your Japanese was not as fluent as it is now. And you decided not to tell me about a boy <em>confessing to you</em>?”</p><p>“Hanare, I’m sor-“</p><p>“I texted you <em>every day </em>while I was away and you never thought of telling me about it? So now that you have your <em>new friends </em>and now a <em>boyfriend</em>, you just decided to <em>throw away </em>your <em>best friend</em>? Are you getting bored of me or what? Did I do something wrong? Or is the fact that people started to know you after you became the <em>manager </em>make you feel that you’re <em>famous </em>and is above <em>me </em>now? <em>Do you have other secrets that you hid-</em>“</p><p>“<em>Hanare!</em>” Kazuki’s loud voice stops Hanare from continuing her words. Kazuki glances at Anka who is staring at Hanare with wide eyes filled with surprised and slight fear. Since the first time Kazuki met the two girls, he had never saw the two fight before and Anka mentioned that they never fought before apart from small disagreements here and there. So it is surprising for both Anka and Kazuki to see Hanare loses her cool like that when the green-haired girl always look out for Anka and never raised her voice in front of Anka before.</p><p>Kazuki looks around to see that now most of the class’ attention are now on them. The boy narrows his eyes at Hanare. “<em>What is wrong with you? </em>This is <em>nothing</em> to get furious about,” He hissed. Kazuki’s word seems to make something in Hanare snaps.</p><p>“Fine,” She said before turning to Anka with a cold expression on her face, the latter is still staring at Hanare wordlessly. “Go and have fun with your volleyball boys.”</p><p>Suddenly, Hanare stands up from her seat and leaves the classroom without saying another word. “Hanare, I’m so-“ Kazuki pulls Anka back to her seat when the girl stands up to follow Hanare. “Let her be. She needs some time to calm herself,” Kazuki said. Anka only nods as she sits herself back down.</p><p>Edogawa Keiko, their class’ representative, suddenly claps her hands to get the class’ attention. “Let’s just prepare for today’s class, okay?” She said, the students seem to understand what she’s actually saying because they start to divert their attention from Kazuki and Hanare although some of them are still stealing a glance or two. Not long after that, Edogawa stands up from her seat to leave the classroom. Probably to approach Hanare before their teacher arrives. Kazuki stares at the door in silence until Anka speaks up.</p><p>“It’s my fault,” Anka said. Kazuki frowns. “No, it is not.”</p><p>Anka shook her head. “Yes, it is. I should’ve told he-“</p><p>“Anka,” Kazuki cuts her off. “I understand that Hanare is your best friend. But that doesn’t mean you have to tell her <em>everything</em>. If you’re still not ready to talk about your relationship with Kenma then she should’ve understand that instead of getting mad at you like that. If she is your best friend, then she should’ve understand your boundaries.” Kazuki sighs as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Now, just take a deep breath and calm yourself, okay? You can talk to Hanare later when she’s calm and can have a <em>mature </em>talk over her childish and irresponsible acts.”</p><p>Anka nods. The girl decided to distract herself by searching through her bag’s content. She’s not sure what she’s searching of but Anka is desperate for some kind of distraction.</p><p>Anka frowns when her hand meets a slightly cool surface, she takes it out and smiles when she sees the mango juice box Kenma had given her earlier on their way to class. She sticks the straw to the juice box before started drinking. As she drinks the cold sweet drink, Anka could feel herself getting calmer and her heart beats normally again instead of its hammering earlier when Hanare was scolding her.</p><p><em>Hanare. </em>Anka bites on her straw distractedly. <em>I should’ve told her earlier. </em></p><p><em>But what’s wrong with keeping it a secret for some time? It’s not that I don’t want to tell her,</em> Anka thought.</p><p><em>But she’s your </em>best friend. <em>She should’ve let you tell her in your own time if she understands you. Don’t you think she’s a little too attached?</em></p><p>
  <em>Hanare is my best friend and it’s normal for best friends to be like that. It’s normal for best friends wanting to always be together. Especially with her protective nature.</em>
</p><p>The sound of the door opening brought Anka out of her reverie. Edogawa has come back but with no Hanare in sight. Not long after that, the teacher walks in and Anka hears Edogawa inform the teacher about Hanare being sick<em>. </em>Anka sighs as she puts her empty mango juice box to a plastic bag before tying it and putting it inside her desk’s drawer.</p><p>
  <em>I hope everything will be okay. </em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! This is my very first fanfiction and English is not my first language. So, any constructive criticism would be appreciated. Thank you for reading this and for giving this fanfiction a chance. Happy reading! :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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